James Harden’s arrival in the Los Angeles Clippers’ dressing room was, in a word? Awkward.
In the early hours of Halloween Tuesday, multiple NBA insiders reported that the Philadelphia 76ers had traded the disgruntled All-Star guard to the Clippers. Harden had requested a trade from Philly in the summer, but it would be a long and painful four-month wait for the saga to finally meet its conclusion.
Joey Linn of Sports Illustrated’s FanNation site posted a video of Harden walking into the Clippers’ locker room for the first time following the trade. Let’s just say that it wasn’t the most cheerful welcoming, but rather a cringeworthy moment filled with awkward silence.
The most awkward part of the video was the reunion between Harden and Russell Westbrook. The two had previously played together with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets:
Los Angeles acquired Harden, P.J. Tucker and Fiilip Petrušev (sent to the Sacramento Kings soon after), in exchange for Robert Covington, Marcus Morris, K.J. Martin, Nic Batum, two firsts, two second-rounders and a 2029 pick swap
Philadelphia acquired Harden in a blockbuster trade from the Brooklyn Nets that sent disgruntled guard Ben Simmons over to the 76ers’ Atlantic Division rivals. Harden and Joel Embiid formed a dynamic scoring duo together, but the 76ers were unable to advance past the second round with the two future Hall of Famers and former MVP award winners.
