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USATSI

The Brooklyn Nets big three of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving may very well go down as the most disappointing superteam in NBA history. The trio only played a total of 16 games together over a year and a half due to injuries and suspensions that impacted the availability of all three stars. 

All three players ended up requesting a trade from the franchise, with Durant and Irving both getting dealt before the trade deadline last Thursday. But Harden was the first of the trio to want out, a decision that received heavy backlash at the time. But now a year later, after the Nets were backed into a corner by the trade requests from K.D. and Irving, Harden is sharing some more insight into his time with the franchise.

After Harden faced the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center for the first time since being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night, the former league MVP got candid about what he described as a "frustrating" stint with the Nets. When asked if he could've predicted that Durant and Irving would no longer be on the team by the time he returned to Barclays Center, the 10-time All Star said succinctly, "Yeah."

He then elaborated when asked why.

"I didn't just ask to leave for no reason," Harden said. "I was in a really good place in Houston. Obviously, we didn't have a chance to win a championship, but I was comfortable. So for me to up and leave my family, all the things I created there, to come to Brooklyn for a year and a half to try to just get up and leave, it was for a reason, you know what I mean? But I'm happy for the organization and what they've got back. They got some really good pieces."

When asked if there were things that could've been done differently to keep him in Brooklyn, Harden said there were but didn't get into specific details.

"Yeah, there was," Harden said. "Like, a lot of things. But it was just a lot of dysfunction. Clearly. But it was a lot of internal things that I'm not going to ever just say, put in the media or anything. And that was one of the reasons why I chose to make my decision. But now, fast-forward to date, I don't look like the crazy one. I don't look like the guy or the quitter or whatever the media want to call me. I knew what was going on and I just decided to ... hey, I'm not built for this. I don't want to deal with that. I want to play basketball and have fun and enjoy doing it. And fast-forward to today, they've got a whole new roster."

At the time of Harden's trade request, it was reported that there was a "weird vibe" between Harden and Irving. There was speculation that Harden asked for a trade in part because Irving's availability was an issue due to being unable to play in Nets home games because he was unvaccinated against COVID-19. However, during his introductory press conference after being traded to the Sixers last season, Harden said that played a "very minimal" role in his decision. 

On Saturday night, Harden was asked if Irving's availability issues, which also included missing several weeks during the 2020-21 season for personal reasons in addition to only playing 29 games last season due to being unvaccinated, played a role in Brooklyn's dysfunction.

"That's not something that I'm going to answer," Harden said. "But the reason I made that decision to get out of my comfort zone which was leave Houston and do everything that I did to get out of there was to come in and play with KD and Kyrie.

"And with that being said, that didn't happen as much as I would like to or probably the organization wanted to. It was just something where I knew it wasn't going to change. So, for me, I just had to make an individual decision for the betterment of my family and my career and what I wanted. And that's what happened."

Now that all three players have left the Nets, with Durant getting traded to his preferred destination of the Phoenix Suns and Irving dealt to the Dallas Mavericks, Harden reflected on his short-lived time with the Nets and summed it up with one word.

"Frustrating," Harden said. "It's a lot of what-ifs, I think when you play less than 20 games together. So it's a little bit frustrating, but it is what it is. Hopefully, everybody's in a good place now and we can move on."

It'll go down as the biggest what-if in NBA history, because on paper the Nets had a roster that was built to win a championship. However, it's also a great example that just because a team is loaded with star power, doesn't mean that it's all going to work out.