James Harden belittles Nets; says Kyrie Irving stance influenced his decision

James Harden seemed to take a swipe at his former teammates at the Brooklyn Nets during his first press conference as a Philadelphia 76ers player on Tuesday. The 10-time NBA All-Star said that he made the move from Brooklyn to be with players that "want to win" after leaving a squad that had two former NBA champions in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

The 32-year-old shooting guard joined the Nets in a four team trade in January 2021, and became the first player in NBA history to score a 30-plus point triple double on debut. On February 10, he was traded along with Paul Millsap to the 76ers as part of a blockbuster deal that saw Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond join the Brooklyn franchise.

Harden missed the last three games with the Nets with a hamstring injury, but practiced with his new teammates this week. The former Houston Rockets star believes he can bring the NBA championship to Philadelphia alongside Joel Embiid, who is playing the best basketball of his career this season.

"For me, it made sense, man," Harden said, as quoted on ESPN. "It's a time where I needed to be around guys that I know want to win, and know that they are willing to do whatever it takes to win, and the structure here is unbelievable."

"[Winning a title is] the goal, man. That's the goal. Like Daryl [Morey] said: The opportunity to win is now. Joel is playing the best he's ever played. So my job is to come out there and help him and help the entire team win a championship this year and in years going forward."

Harden has now been reunited with Daryl Morey, who brought him to the Rockets from the Oklahoma City Thunder about nine years ago. "The Beard" as he is fondly referred to, was initially not interested in going into detail about his departure from the Nets, but later admitted that Kyrie Irving's decision to remain unvaccinated, which led him to miss the Nets' home games did play a part as it affected the team's ability to win.

"Very minimal, honestly," Harden added. "Like, obviously me and Ky are really good friends, whatever he was going through, or is going through, that's his personal preference. But it definitely did impact the team because, originally, me, Kyrie, KD on the court -- and winning -- covers up a lot of that stuff. But it's unfortunate that we played 16 games out of whatever it was, and it is what it is."

Harden looks at his move to the 76ers as an opportunity of a lifetime to finally lift the Larry O'Brien trophy. The Philadelphia franchise's head coach Doc Rivers also believes the arrival of Harden and Millsap will help them achieve their ultimate objective.