One player that likely isn't too upset about the fact that James Harden is no longer a member of the Houston Rockets is DeMarcus Cousins. On Wednesday, before Harden was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in a blockbuster deal, Cousins made it clear that he wasn't a fan of the way that Harden had handled his time with the Rockets since requesting a trade from the organization over the offseason. Between showing up late to training camp, not playing his hardest out on the floor, and making disparaging comments about the team to the media, Cousins had had enough.
"Obviously, it's disrespectful, but everybody has a right to their opinion," Cousins said of Harden's behavior, via ESPN. "We feel a certain type of way about some of his actions. This is the nasty part of the business that kind of gets swept under the rug. You deal with some of these things. When guys are in positions of being franchise players or whatever the case may be, it's usually sometimes a nasty breakup.
"I just feel like it's a way about handling business," Cousins added. "He can feel however he wants to feel about the organization or whatever his current situation is, but the other 14 guys in the locker room have done nothing to him. For us to be on the receiving end of some of the disrespectful comments and antics, it's completely unfair to us."
These comments from Cousins come a day after Harden publicly declared that the Rockets "weren't good enough," and in turn threw all of his teammates under the bus. But Cousins made it clear that his feelings regarding Harden have been lingering since the start of the season.
"Just the approach to training camp, showing up the way he did, the antics off the court, the disrespect started way before [Tuesday night]," Cousins said. "This isn't something that all of the sudden happened last night, but with that being said, like I said, this is the nasty part of the business. So it is what it is."
On Tuesday night, Rockets guard John Wall made similar comments regarding Harden, though he was a little less blunt about the situation than Cousins was.
"I think it's been a little rocky, can't lie about that," Wall said. "I don't think it's been the best it could be, to be honest. That's all I really could say ... When you have certain guys in the mix that don't want to buy in as one, it's gonna be hard to do anything special as a basketball team ... it hurts."
The Rockets now can finally move on from the Harden saga, and though they won't have the top-tier talent that they had with Harden, it will likely be easier for the team to focus on the task of winning basketball games without constant drama hanging over them. A roster consisting of Cousins, Wall, Christian Wood and Victor Oladipo, who Houston received as part of the return package for Harden, could still be competitive in the West. Plus, with all the picks that the received in the deal, they could be set up well for the future, too.