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  • James Harden, expected to meet with reporters today, the day after his trade to Brooklyn becomes official, where he will team up with Kevin Durant and maybe Kyrie Irving next general manager Sean Marks yesterday was asked about how Irving's absence impacted the decision to make the trade.

  • Here's what he said.

  • They're completely separate from one another.

  • I'm you know, Kyra is absence and you know, the personal issues that he's dealing with it has nothing to do with us, you know, going after and attaining James Harden and this regarding Kyrie when he will be hopefully back and rejoining the team you're part of that is going up to the N b A.

  • And we're waiting for them to come out with.

  • So their ruling on the health and safety protocols.

  • You know, I have talked to Kyrie, so I know he's excited about getting back on the court, Um, with his teammates, you know, a soon as possible boy, is there a lot to unpack and the things that he just said and the perfect man to do it they wanted only Jalen Rose is here to give the people what they want, right?

  • Let's go through those in order.

  • The first thing he said was that the the Kyrie Irving absence had no impact on their decision to trade for James Harden.

  • Do you buy that?

  • I buy a greeny because this was something that's been brewing in particular this offseason when those three were in Los Angeles playing pickup games together.

  • And here's the deal.

  • They did a terrific job of formulating a Big Three in Brooklyn with the Nets.

  • And there, when you're trying to make that omelet is gonna be some broken eggs.

  • And unfortunately for the Rockets and their fans, it was them because Kyrie and K d were already with the squad.

  • So James was the one that had to go to his team and say that he wanted out.

  • Ah, God has been in M V P.

  • One multiple scoring titles.

  • They'll likely retire his number one day, So he had to make it unceremonious for his situation so that he can now make it happen.

  • But now that it's happened, this is gonna be outstanding for the N B A.

  • Because we have a built in villain, as the people like to call it, K D left the splash brothers and their beloved Kyrie left LeBron and he's the king.

  • And I just said What happened with James Harden?

  • Now you have LeBron the King on the West sitting on the throne, and now you have the Nets and K D.

  • A two time finals M V p on the East Coast.

  • We needed this for Eastern Standard time.

  • I'm with you on that part of it, But obviously one of the Big three is not there.

  • Another thing Sean Marks just said is I've talked to Kyrie and he's excited to be back on the floor with his teammates.

  • Well, what exactly should we make of that?

  • Considering a T least in one big way, he's the reason he's not on the floor with his teammates.

  • So, of course, we always gotta take, you know, mental health and or any anxiety or depression into account when we're talking about any human beings.

  • But beyond that, he has a personal and a professional responsibility to his team and to his teammates to show up for work Green And when he doesn't show up for work, don't donate $400,000 back to the team.

  • If you really wanna make some moves in the community with that money.

  • Take that game check and actually do that.

  • And he's been a terrific ambassador in so many facets of giving back to his community greeny, and it's not talked about enough.

  • But I understand not to confuse Kyrie walking around the floor burning sage on the right wing because I still have images of him at Golden State hitting a big shot of a Steph Curry winning a championship on the right wing.

  • I know that Kevin Durant is coming back from an Achilles injury, but when he wanted to championships, that was against LeBron James.

  • James Harden, along with the Greek freaking Dame Lillard, are probably the three best players that haven't won championships in today's game.

  • So now if u k d you come to the West, you saw LeBron win the championship in the East.

  • I mean, if you Katie, you go to the east because you saw saw LeBron do it.

  • You saw how I do it.

  • And now K ds on the east.

  • And when the Splash Brothers get back and LeBron has a d, this is gonna be fantastic Theater for the N B A e.

  • I really find a way to return to the team.

  • Trust me when when his protocol is greeny, he wanna be a part of this show because that's what it's gonna be.

  • Let's make it clear, because now he may have violated the MBA's covert protocol and we'll see what the league decides to do when you just touched on it.

  • He gets paid a little over $408,000 per game, so the five games that he's missed in theory would be $2 million worth of salary.

  • Now, we don't believe he's being docked that in any meaningful way.

  • But But how about that part of it?

  • How about the league's place in this and the co vid piece of this?

  • That's enough biscuits for the projects.

  • What?

  • $2 million?

  • I tell you, man.

  • But here's the thing.

  • Greeny during the season, they're gonna be ebbs and flows with players.

  • But ultimately this is what's gonna happen.

  • He's gonna pay his fine.

  • He's going to Clear Cove it protocols.

  • James Harden is gonna have a press conference today.

  • He's gonna play basketball with the Nets, possibly Saturday, if everybody clear their physicals at some point next week.

  • Probably Kyrie Irving is going to return to this team and they're gonna have Ah, spectacular victory.

  • Unlike the one Probably the last time we've seen this was when LeBron joined up with Wade and Chris Bosch.

  • Two of these guys have already won championships.

  • Harden has already won an M.

  • V p.

  • This is gonna be great theater.

  • And I'm gonna just tell you this.

  • I'm still not picking them to win it all this year.

  • I'm picking the Milwaukee Bucks to still come out of the East.

  • So while I'm giving them all of this praise, this ain't gonna be the year for them to win the East.

  • The back to back reigning M v P Janessa Tentacle poll just got Drew Holiday along with Middleton.

  • People still sleeping on Chris Middleton.

  • Did y'all see him ball in the playoffs last year when the Greek freak wasn't available?

  • That continuity is gonna mean something in abbreviated season.

  • The Bucks will eliminate the Nets if they play them in the playoffs.

  • You and I had a suit bet on something that happened last year.

  • You want it from me?

  • This is another bed.

  • I wanna make.

  • We'll talk about that offline.

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James Harden, expected to meet with reporters today, the day after his trade to Brooklyn becomes official, where he will team up with Kevin Durant and maybe Kyrie Irving next general manager Sean Marks yesterday was asked about how Irving's absence impacted the decision to make the trade.

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