James Harden responds to criticism from John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins

Harden responds to criticism from Wall and Cousins originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington Friday was James Harden's introductory press conference with the Brooklyn Nets, which gave him his first opportunity to explain his side of what went wrong in Houston following one of the more eventful, and entertaining, exits for a star player in recent memory. Part of his end there included his new teammates John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins throwing some shade in his direction, as they complained in subtle and overt ways about him giving up on the team and wanting out. Wall complained of Harden not buying in and said that hurt the team. Cousins went as far as to say Harden's actions were "disrespectful." Harden was asked about it and took issue with what Cousins said in particular. "I wasn't disrespectful to anyone. Those guys had just got there to Houston. I'd been there for a very long time," he told reporters in a teleconference. "I've been through all the ups and downs with that organization and I wasn't disrespectful to anyone. I just made a comment that the team as a whole wasn't good enough to compete for a title and, at the stage in my career where I am now, that's what I would love." Harden went on to admit he didn't handle his end in Houston the best way he could. "There were some things I felt were out of my character, but the ultimate goal was to get somewhere where I could compete. Here I am in Brooklyn," he said. Harden, though, also referred to himself as an "elite player, an elite teammate, an elite leader," defending his final days in Houston as not indicative of the bigger picture of his career. Now, the Nets will find that out for themselves. Certainly, the talent is intriguing now that he's playing with Kevin Durant (again), Kyrie Irving and what remains a fairly deep roster despite the trade. Whether they can actually make it work and win a championship is the big question and both Harden and Irving will need to show their recent issues are behind them to actually prove their doubters wrong. Basketball stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .

NBA players react to massive James Harden to Brooklyn trade

James Harden got what he wanted — and the NBA world flipped out. Harden had been pushing for a trade out of Houston to Brooklyn since before the season started, but the two teams could not find common ground. The sides were not even close a week ago. But things picked up a lot of momentum in the last few days, and Wednesday a massive four-team trade went down, sending Harden to the Nets, Caris LeVert to Indiana, Jarrett Allen to Cleveland, and four unprotected first-round picks, and four pick swaps, to Brooklyn. Basketball stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .

No word on Irving's return to Nets after he misses 3 games

NEW YORK (AP) -- The timing of Kyrie Irving's return to the Brooklyn Nets remains unknown, with coach Steve Nash saying Monday he had no update on the point guard's status. The Nets listed Irving as out for their game Tuesday against Denver, which will be the fourth straight he misses for personal reasons. Nash has said it's a private matter and has refused to discuss Irving's absence in detail. He did say that he believed Irving was tested for the coronavirus on Sunday, though he wasn't sure about Monday. Whether Irving has continued to be tested during his time away could determine how quickly he would be eligible to play upon his return. The Nets have lost two of their three games without Irving. Kevin Durant missed two of them because of the NBA's health and safety protocols for COVID-19 before returning Sunday in a 129-116 loss to Oklahoma City. Basketball stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .

Manchester United trio Paul Pogba, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw suffer injury setbacks ahead of cruch week

Paul Pogba, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw missed Manchester United’s FA Cup third round tie with Watford through injury, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed. The trio played no part in United's win at Old Trafford on Saturday evening, having all started in the EFL Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City three days earlier. Solskjaer made nine changes against Watford, naming Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford on the substitutes bench among others, though Pogba, Lindelof and Shaw were not included in the matchday squad. The United manager confirmed that all three were missing through injury in his post-match press conference, though was optimistic about Eric Bailly after the defender was forced off during the first half. Bailly was substituted for Maguire after a collision with goalkeeper Dean Henderson left him dazed and requiring assistance to leave the pitch. Solskjaer did not know the full extent of Bailly's problem but believed the issue to be with the 26-year-old's neck and did not suspect that Bailly suffered concussion. "He got a good whack," he said. "I don't think it's concussion, hopefully a muscle injury and we'll have to check it tomorrow. Fingers crossed he won't be out for too long." After the final whistle, Bailly confirmed his injury was only minor. "Good job by the team to advance in the FA Cup. I am OK, it was just a knock," he tweeted. Football stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .

Steve Nash has texted with Kyrie Irving, whose status for Sunday's Nets game is unknown

Nets guard Kyrie Irving missed the team's game on Thursday against the Philadelphia 76ers and did not travel for Friday's game on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies due to personal reasons. Head coach Steve Nash told reporters on Friday that he has texted with Irving and would like to keep the details of that conversation private. "I'm just going to keep it between us," Nash said. Nash would go on to say that Irving's status for Sunday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder is to be determined. Basketball stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .

When traded, will Harden make sacrifices to win? Not every team executive is sold.

James Harden‘s push to get traded out of Houston remains in a holding pattern as he and the Rockets wait for the market to turn and catch up with their demands. While the focus has been on when and where Harden gets traded, Howard Beck at Sports Illustrated said the real question is will Harden make the sacrifices needed to win a ring in his new home? Plenty of team executives are not convinced (part of what is slowing the trade market for him). “I don’t think he is,” says a veteran executive with an Eastern Conference team. “James is like Allen Iverson: He wants to win his way and put up historical numbers while he’s winning. I would never question their desire to win, but they all want to win on their terms.” A Western Conference exec echoed those doubts, saying, “It’s hard for me to envision him playing any other way,” although he added, “I’m not sure if that’s him or the Rockets” insisting on that style. Harden is unquestionably one of the great scorers the game has ever seen, a three-time league scoring champ and MVP who has averaged more than 30 points a game the past three seasons, and is at 33 a night so far this season. He can get to the rim, drain a step-back three, has a full range of moves, and is generally one of the league’s hardest covers. However, getting to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy requires more than moves. Winning a ring means being willing to up touches and points for the team’s greater good — just ask Kevin Durant (when he was in Golden State) or Dwyane Wade in Miami or any of the Duncan-era Spurs stars (and the list goes on and on). Harden has played one way, in total control, for the past eight years in Houston, running off a series of high-profile teammates in the process. Whenever and wherever he gets traded, Harden will undoubtedly say all the right things about putting the team first and wanting to win more than anything. But will he give up touches to Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn?Feed Joel Embiid in the post in crunch time in Philadelphia? Play nice with Jayson Tatum in Boston? Actions will speak louder than words. Basketball stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .

Rumor: Nets cooled on Harden trade in part because of Mike D’Antoni

James Harden has added teams to the mix, but his original trade demand was to go to Brooklyn. Those talks have gone nowhere, at least in part because Houston wanted more than a trade package built around Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen (and maybe Spencer Dinwiddie). The other side of that coin — or the Nets’ spin on the talks — is they have cooled on the Harden trade idea due to Harden’s former coach Mike D’Antoni weighing in. That and seeing the potential to contend with what they have in house. At least that is what The Ringer’s founder said on his flagship podcast, the Bill Simmons Podcast (hat tip to Clutch Points). “I heard that Brooklyn cooled of on Harden and one reason was D’Antoni, they were like ‘were good, lets keep what we have here, Harden presents some problems,’” Simmons said. We don’t know Simmons’ source, so take this with a grain of salt. This could be Brooklyn leaking something to save face: “They don’t want our guy? Well, we didn’t want him anyway.” There also could be some truth to all of it: Houston may not love LeVert, and the Nets may want to wait to see what they have. While Brooklyn is off to a 3-3 start, it has looked like an unstoppable contender at points this young season. While the Nets have some defensive questions to answer (and Harden doesn’t really help with that), they look like a team that can challenge Milwaukee and anyone else at the top of the East come the playoffs. Trading for Harden radically changes the team dynamic; the Nets may want to see how the team they have looks over a stretch of ground before deciding on Harden either way. Harden’s trade demand remains in a holding pattern — he’s playing well for the Rockets, but Houston is still demanding a huge trade package for the former MVP and no other team is stepping up to meet that. The Rockets plan to wait the market out, and that will take a little time. Basketball stat collect from isports API, for more details please visit www.isportsapi.com .