Rockets' Motiejunas says his relationship with Harden and Howard limited to 'hi, bye'
As far as their reputations as teammates go, Rockets' stars Dwight Howard and James Harden aren't having the best summer.
First, there was Howard saying that the departure of forward Chandler Parsons "won't affect us at all." Then there was Harden's take that, outside of he and Howard, "the rest of the guys are role players or pieces that complete our team."
Now Rockets big man Donatas Motiejūnas has added fuel to the fire with his comments this week to Lithuanian radio station ZIP FM Radistai.
After mentioning how good his relationship with the recently-traded Jeremy Lin was, and how supportive the new Lakers point guard had been, the topic changed to the two Houston cornerstones.
"How about your relationship with Howard and Harden?" Motiejūnas was asked.
"Hello and goodbye," Motiejūnas answered. When asked if Harden and Howard invite him out to eat, Motiejūnas stated that, "they eat at different places."
Editor's note: Originally, the translation, as provided to theScore by Simonas Baranauskas stated, "Hello and goodbye. They even eat separately from the team, usually at some fast food place."
This isn't the first time that Motiejūnas has chimed in, as he also commented on the matter weeks ago, shortly after Harden, Howard and Parsons traded barbs in the media.
D-Mo on Parsons departing: "He's a good player, but would it be logical for management to pay him more than Harden?" #Rockets @DreamShakeSBN
— Simonas Baranauskas (@LithuaniaBasket) July 26, 2014
D-Mo on Parsons: "I think that alone determined they couldn't keep him. Harden would be 3rd player on the team & he wouldn't tolerate it."
— Simonas Baranauskas (@LithuaniaBasket) July 26, 2014
Harden and Howard enjoyed a solid first season together, with both earning All-Star berths and All-NBA nods after leading the Rockets to 54 wins and the Western Conference's No. 4 seed. Houston lost a six-game, first round series to the fifth-seeded Trail Blazers, however, and while they have added Trevor Ariza this off-season, they also lost Parsons, Lin and Omer Asik.
The Rockets probably got weaker, while losing Parsons to a division-rival Mavs team that should be vastly improved. Furthermore, they remain in an unforgiving Western Conference that features a number of legitimate championship contenders and potential 50-win teams.
As the faces of the franchise, and with a year together under their belt, the pressure will now be on Harden and Howard to keep the Rockets in the championship picture. As Howard himself said a few weeks ago: "we have the best center and the best two guard in the game on the same team. It's on us."