That was more cheers than it was booze.

And that was pretty much what we expected to hear Harden after forcing his way unceremoniously and on some level unprofessionally out of Houston at the beginning of this season.

But having done so much not only for that franchise for that city, you figured there'd be the smattering of boos, there would be the majority would be cheers.

And that's certainly what it felt like and sounded like to me as I was following along with it last night.

Bear in mind, it's been a brutal time in Houston in so many different ways in ways that are so much more significant than anything that could happen in an NBA arena.

The tragedy of the power outages recently and all the rest of that, but of far less consequence, even in sports, you got to Shawn Watson forcing his way out.

The Astros just traded away George Springer, and now James Harden is a Brooklyn net.

He's on his way to an M V.

P may be significant MVP consideration, maybe even winning the award this year.

He's playing so well and the Nets might win the championship.

And here you are, sitting there watching him do all of this with another team.

And so I always look at these circumstances and I try to think to myself, How would I have reacted to this as a fan?

In this day and age, I kind of view things differently because I'm just too close to it.

Anything that you're as close to as I am to this.

It's not that I've lost my passion for it, but I just don't view it the same way I used to.

But if I was a fan, if I were right now a lawyer or anything else that I might have done with my life if I didn't do this and this exact circumstance had played out, I don't think I would have cheered for him.

I don't think I would have cheered.

I look at it like a marriage.

We had many great years, many great times.

Then at the end, you lied to me, cheated on me, humiliated me publicly, made it clear the only thing that mattered was getting the hell away from me.

I'm going to feel some kind of way like that's going to leave a mark.

Now, let me ask them.

The hashtag crew is here with us this morning.

And then the leader of that group is Bubba Brendan Peregrine, my disheveled board operator.

And for those who don't know, Bubba is a leading marriage expert in that field.

Has written and published many books in that area.

So, Bubba, I would ask you, Does that make sense?

If you were?

And if you could make that analogy if you were a fan of the Rockets last night, would you have cheered or booed James Harden on his return?

Yeah, I'd say there's a 0% chance I am cheering that man when he returns.

Tell me why.

Give me your thoughts on this, Bubba.

I think what you said your analogy makes perfect sense.

I mean, I think he had a lot of great years and you loved him.

He was there, but the ending was terrible.

He treated us terribly and was a terrible you know, teammate person in the city at the end and just trash us on the way out.

So what?

You know, I can't just let that go.

I can't just go.

Yeah, he's back.

Yeah.

You know, No, he also.

And I will tell you another thing.

He also never quite got you to the promised land.

Like it might be different if you were sitting there having, you know, soaked in all the champagne of a celebration.

If you had seen him win a championship for your city, maybe that buys you a little extra on the way out the door.

But again, I think that's right.

And this is sports.

At the end of the day, I don't like it when people tell me that you shouldn't use certain phraseology or certain thoughts around the world of sports.

What he did for that city is wonderful.

That will never change.

And so if you see him in the street, if you're in Houston and you see him in the street Oh, by all means salute him.

He is a critical member of that community.

He's done a ton for the city of Houston.

God bless him.

That's not what we're talking about when you're in the arena that sports, we're all playing a game here.

He's playing one literally.

We're all playing one, figuratively.

This is just a game we're playing.

So when he walks into that arena, it's not about what he did for the city.

It's not about how what a wonderful person he was there.

And I have to believe he gets that we should.

All the athletes should get that again.

You see James Harden in the street, you salute him in Houston or anywhere.

What you've done for the city is fabulous.

With all of that.

That has nothing to do with this.

But in sports, it's all part of the game.

You boo him if you want to.

I always say there's sports hate, which isn't actual hate, So I have no issue with fans booing James Harden.

It's all part of the game.

When I was a kid, I used to talk about all the players I hated.

I hated Dan Marino.

I hated Larry Bird.

I hate there's a list of we all have that.

We'll have guy literally hate them.

I've met Dan Marino a million times.

It couldn't be a more charming guy.

Very nice, all that kind of stuff.

I really don't know, Bird, I don't I don't know him well, but I'm willing to meet him halfway.

I know Brady a little bit.

Belichick.

I root against them in every game they play.

I have no issue with you saying, I hate that guy.

I hate that team because you don't mean it.

And everyone with a shred of common sense knows you don't mean it.

So don't let anyone tell you there's anything wrong with saying that again.

If you see James Harden in the street, salute him for everything he's done.

But if you want to boo him last night on his return, I myself don't have any issue with that.

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