[Source](https://streamable.com/7aiwiw)
> I understand what he [Harden] is going for. I understand that he knows what he needs to do because in this league when you are a pro, when you do everything the right way, I know what teams do:
>If you are a player and you act like a pro everyday, they’re gonna say “He’s fine. As soon we start playing, we start winning, he’ll feel good again!” And they will stall, and they will string you out and they will do anything other than what they told you they’re going to do. And the only time they’re gonna get off their rear ends is: A. If it’s clearly not working or B. You make a mess. That’s when they feel a sense of urgency.
>But when you do the ‘Damian Lillard’ thing — show up every day, be a good teammate, be a good mentor to the young guys, go out there and give it your all, listen to the coach, support the coaches vision — They’re like “Man, he’s fine.” And so the guys that make a mess — Anthony Davis, James Harden, Jimmy Butler — Those are the guys that get traded. The guys that keep their mouth shut? They’re sitting around, wondering when their day is coming.
by lopea182
35 Comments
Really don’t think AD deserves to be in this conversation. He wanted to play. New Orleans benched him.
I mean yea obviously the team is going to lie to players for as long as they can get away with it. They’ll string them along for as long as possible. Nobody should feel bad when somebody makes a trade request and fans shouldn’t sensationalize it. It’s a business. Don’t get in your fee-fees about it.
basically what happened in OKC. they cheaped out on Harden and yet KD made no public noise about it. then OKC strung him along for years, getting no spacing and wasting draft picks on rookies who weren’t ready to play on a title contender
To note, these players feel that they can “make a mess” because they believe that they possess leverage over their teams. Take away that leverage, akin to the new CBA, and the public tantrums end.
How is kyrie and KD not mentioned before AD 😂
I feel so bad for Lillard. Gonna make like 160 million the next 3 years to play a sport.
What’s a contract?
The guys that keep their mouth shut also get traded when those guys make a “mess”.
They’re the ones who don’t want to be traded, but are moving anyway because a guy on another team in another city can’t be arsed to fulfill his contract
I hope the Sixers sit him without pay and indefinitely hold his rights, if he refuses to play.
He is getting paid 35 million this year.
People don’t understand this, if harden had just asked for a trade but remained committed they would 100% just run back the year with him and go into next season with a fresh slate. Unless you actually make the organization have to engage in trade talks they likely will just sit around wait until they are ready to do something if the time ever comes around.
Didn’t we just see Beal get traded super easily to a great team with little to no friction between he and the former team?
Sometimes the mess is necessary, but this seems like a memory bias
Davis also made his trade request mid season in an attempt to get moved at the deadline. Which didn’t happen, and the mess ended up being entirely unnecessary / worthless as the org would have been basically forced to trade him over the summer anyway, once he said he wasn’t going to re-sign
I feel like this is a bit of revisionist history. AD had to wait a while for the Pelicans to move him, the drama towards the end of his last season there after the deadline about whether he should play or not is forgotten. James Harden is literally sitting around waiting for his day to come right now lol.
He’s right. Trade Dame. Harden should stew
AD was in the last year of his deal, let the team know his intentions before the trade deadline, and allowed them to get incredible value in return. What Harden does isn’t even in the same realm
“The guys at work calling their boss a liar always get fired.”
Damn, really makes you think…
bro, they aren’t getting executed, they are getting paid millions to play a sport
In all fairness the Pelicans got a good return for AD instead of losing him for nothing in FA the next year
But did Jimmy really make a mess in Chicago or Philly? Naw. He wanted out in Chicago but GarPax crapped in way many more places than Jimmy did…I can’t blame Jimmy on that one.
Minnesota was more him realizing that he wasn’t gonna get a max deal and wanted out…especially since Taylor gave a max simply on “potential” to Andrew Wiggins…
Giannis seems to be doing OK.
Dame needs to thrash his teammates in practice and rant in front of the media once RS starts
I’ve never guess that this community would turn so fast on Dame. It’s actually quite comical.
The NBA: if you are a complete piece of shit, you will get your way!
[NBA on TNT music blasts in the background]
Their day arrives when they’re free fucking agents lmfao
This is simply not true.
I hate this garbage rhetoric. The modern players are so soft. Don’t sign the contract then.
Jimmy and AD are not harden lol. As much as I hate Jimmy and the hate
This is a such a shit tier narrative that only Amin El Hassan can craft – “Person X should do the shitty thing, it won’t matter because this world is fucked up” like, thanks dude
Anyone saying they make millions quit crying needs to get off Reddit and focus on improving your life.
Amin is a hack
Are we going to pretend that Russel Westbrook approached Kahwi before he signed with the Clippers to make a superteam in LA. Then Kahwi got PG to request a trade to LA. Also Kahwi would only sign if he had a running mate
>AD
Lmao opinion dimissed. Unlike the rest of the list, AD just went to his FO and said “i got less than 1 year left. Im hitting FA. Do whatever you want with that info”
He didnt bitch out of a contract. He just let the pels know that if they wanted something for him, that was the time.
What the fuck is this guy even saying? Those dudes have 1 Mickey ring between the three of them…
Seems like some bullshit. There are plenty of players who were righted or wronged in opposite situations. Did a dynasty keep Kobe and Shaq from falling out? Was Carmelo’s tantrum in Denver the righting of the ship for the Knicks? Did LeBron trying to undermine Spoelstra and get Riley back on the bench a success?
KD wasn’t a nuisance or a loudmouthed jerk on the way to the Warriors. It was kind of just a thing and people reacted. Bradley Beal kept his head down, did his work, and got a super max and a NTC that helped him reach Phoenix without a meltdown. Dirk kept his head down in a career of “almost good enough,” and the right team got built for him to win a ring.
I think Amin’s totally full of shit. Harden’s antics didn’t get him a ring on Houston. He didn’t go anywhere with Brooklyn. He got out of there and is having another fit in Philly. He’s getting passed around like a hot potato now and is never happy. Kyrie kept talking and bouncing and has nothing to show for it post-LeBron. Giannis and Jokic didn’t get their rings off public spectacles and thinly veiled threats.
What incentive does a player have to not only make a stink, but state where they want to go? Lowering the price their destination will have to pay seems more relevant than the backlash
Butler did not ask for a trade as far as i understand, he just asked to get paid. Both the Wolves and Sixers decided they didnt want to pay him and traded him instead, both of those teams had their best seasons when Butler was there.