Rockets Rumors: James Harden Unhappy With Jalen Green’s Comments on Potential Trade | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

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James Harden reportedly did not appreciate Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green’s comment on Harden potentially being traded to Houston.

“I heard that [James Harden] caught wind of Jalen’s podcast with Paul George, and he wasn’t too keen on some of the things that Jalen was saying,” The Athletic’s Kelly Iko said on The Athletic NBA Show Friday.

“James came multiple summers to Houston, and took him under his wing, and kind of mentored, and kind of worked out with him, for him to say, ‘It could be good, it could be bad,’ he didn’t like that very much.”

Iko’s comments are around the 22-minute mark of the clip below.

Green discussed the possibility of Harden coming to Houston in May on Podcast P with Paul George.

“I feel like at this point, you’re the king of Houston,” George told Green. “You’ve got to go through this, being double-teamed, being triple-teamed, being the target every time, you’ve got to go through that. And you bring on someone like James, that’s such a ball-dominant player, and that’s going to hurt your growth a little bit.”

Green said he agreed.

“I think it can play both ways, like you just said,” Green said. “It can help and it can hurt at the same time.”

Iko said Wednesday that he believed the Rockets are “out of the running” for Harden. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday that Harden will pick up his $35.6 million player option with Philadelphia in order to pursue a trade, and that the Los Angeles Clippers are a “prominent” suitor.

If they can work out a deal with the Sixers, the Clippers could add a 10-time All-Star to the duo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard—and Green can avoid an awkward conversation with Harden.