James Harden's tenure with the Brooklyn Nets only lasted about 13 months, and part of the reason for his abrupt exit from the organization apparently stemmed from discontent between him and Kevin Durant.
Harden arrived out of shape at training camp earlier this season, irking Durant, who wanted his star teammate to prioritize conditioning more in their pursuit of a title, a source told ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz. The Beard's offensive struggles and lack of explosiveness to begin the regular season baffled Durant, who felt Harden's issues stemmed from him being out of shape.
Harden reportedly considered Durant's views of him to be harsh, and the duo failed to move on from the conflict before the former was shipped to the Philadelphia 76ers ahead of the trade deadline. Teammates, Nets head coach Steve Nash, and general manager Sean Marks weren't able to help Harden and Durant squash their lingering animosity, according to Arnovitz. Harden instead grew increasingly isolated from the team.
After Harden left, Durant and Kyrie Irving helped Brooklyn qualify for the play-in tournament as the Eastern Conference's No. 7 seed. A Nets win on Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers would book them a first-round matchup versus the Boston Celtics.
Meanwhile, Harden, Joel Embiid, and the rest of the 76ers will open the postseason with home-court advantage against the fifth-seeded Toronto Raptors.
