When the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets meet next season, playing nice is out of the question.
Crap is going to get real brutal, real quick. Tensions are going to boil over. They're already boiling over.
Since leaving the Rockets for the Mavericks, Chandler Parsons has been vocal about the entire process, commending Dallas and owner Mark Cuban, chiding Houston's brass for how they handled the situation.
And now there's another situation.
Talking to media members while in the Philippines, Harden had some less-than-flattering sentiments to offer, per the Houston Chronicle‘s Jonathan Feigen:
Dwight and I are the cornerstones of the Rockets. The rest of the guys are role players or pieces that complete our team. We’ve lost some pieces and added some pieces. I think we’ll be fine next season.
Woof.
Role players? Some pieces?
Do you feel that, Jeremy Lin? How about you, Omer Asik? You guys are freaking role players, only existing to complement the almighty James Harden and Dwight Howard.
How about you, Parsons? Did you feel your ears burning each time Harden opened up his mouth? Of course you did. You even responded.
From Feigen:
That’s a pretty ridiculous statement if he meant that. That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to go to Dallas. I’m ready for the next step. I’m ready for a bigger role and I’m ready for more leadership. If anyone should understand that, it should be James because he was in the same situation in Oklahoma City then he got his chance to come to Houston and shine.
Nice comeback C-Money (can I call you “C-Money?”).
This isn’t the first time Parsons has been forced to respond to a boneheaded statement from one of his former teammates.
“It won’t affect us at all,” Howard said of Parsons’ departure, per The Associated Press (via ESPN.com).
Um, sure. Losing your third-best player and third-leading scorer won’t affect you guys at all, Dwight. Not at all.
All of this is absurd. Howard may have spoken out of turn or his comments been taken out of context. He and Parsons are known friends, and he’s a well-documented clown. They can probably just fist-pound it out, with Parsons knowing Howard wasn’t being completely serious or was just trying to wax confidence about his team.
Beard’s comments are little more ridiculous, even if he didn’t mean them. Pay attention, man. Were you not listening to what Howard said? Did you not learn think before you speak?
Harden basically devalued role players everywhere. Not to say he was wrong. What he said is true. But it’s tacitly true. You don’t go around saying “Howard and I are the reasons the Rockets are where we are. Those other guys don’t mean shit.” That’s what he was saying basically. Hopefully it’s not what he meant, but that’s what he was saying.
And if that’s, in fact, what he meant, then we can’t blame Parsons for leaving. Or Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony for not signing.
The culture in Houston seems incredibly weird and borderline dysfunctional, after all.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
