It wasn't even like through reporters or sources.

He came out on the radio and said I wanted to be traded his name on it and absolutely, they waited him out.

And it is a little bit of a battle of wills because James has two years left on his deal and there is a point is, I think, where the coaching staff in the front office and say We don't care.

You need to be out on the court and play.

And remember, if Mbah players quote, sit out.

It's not like the NFL.

NFL players can sit out and their contract your continues, even if they're not getting paid with the n B A.

If you don't report your contract, your does not start.

So those two years he has left on his deal with the Rockets, if James would say and he's obviously not going to do this, but just to explain the difference.

If James is strategy was somehow, well, I'll just sit out this season.

He will come back the next season and still have two more years left on his deal inside the franchise.

What are the discussions?

Phys?

That as a coach you're having with the front office back and forth about how to handle it and what to say to the other players?

Well, I think it first starts with sitting down with James and saying, Okay, how do you want this to play out?

And you know, yes, we are actively shopping to trade you, But until we can, we all have to be pros and do our job.

And you would expect and you would want thio encourage him to be that type of person that will come out and play until that opportunity came up where a deal could be worked out.

Uh, it doesn't look good for anybody if James doesn't show, you know, for Houston is like to me that the conversation is Is James going thio play nice?

Is he going thio or is he gonna be disruptive if he can settle in with John Wall and they could get off to a decent start that actually increases Houston's leverage.

But if he's disruptive, if the team starts to crater, If this started then then there really trading him from from a place of duress, and I think that's what the organization has to determine now.

I personally, um, in the camp that says he's under contract.

He's a great player.

You just don't get many chances to trade great players on if you If you trade James Harden in the wrong deal, your franchise is gonna be digging out from under that trade for the next 5 to 6 years.

So you wait until you get what you want for James Harden.

And you have to tell him.

Help us help you.

Yeah, there's a lot of players who've been in this situation.

And if if you if you help us, help you, then you could get to where you want and we can get something in return for you.

And that's what that professionalism comes in, where you just say, Hey, listen, come out, play hard like you always do perform at a high level.

Uh, there's an expectation of James Harden when he steps on the port from fans and from everyone in the country around the world.

Be that guy and just know that we're really pushing forward to try to help you get to the place that you wanna be so we can make sure that everybody wins.

And look, we talk about Kobe Bryant or Jimmy Butler.

Every situation is different.

And one of the complexities with this situation is that the team that James reportedly wants to go to is not a team that necessarily desperately needs him, right?

They've got Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

So I guess it depends on how much K D and Kyrie say you, absolutely, to the front office.

Have to go get James.

But it's not a team that necessarily has to pay a sky high price because they're desperate for James Harden.

He would kind of be a luxury on that team, So that's going to change the leverage and the negotiations here as well.

We'll have to see if there's anywhere else James might be interested in going, or this saga could end up for a long time.

We'll keep watching Instagram, who knows.

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