James Harden: Chris Paul ‘Didn’t Seem Happy’

James Harden says that Chris Paul appeared to be unhappy in L.A. last season, which made it easier to recruit the All-Star point guard to Houston.

Harden says that with the CP3 signing, the Rockets are now “right there” with the NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

Harden, 27, re-upped in H-Town on a massive extension this summer.

Per USA Today:

Harden, who joined Oscar Robertson as the only other player to average at least 29 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds per game in the regular season but also had a career-high usage rate of 34.1, looked tired at the end. So he added yoga and pilates to his [offseason] routine, focused on his rest and tweaked his diet. The goal, of course, is to make the most of this opportunity he has to create the league’s latest dynamic duo with Paul.

 

“I just knew that in the summertime obviously (Paul) was a free agent, and I wanted to see where his head was,” Harden said of Paul, who will now be a free agent next summer. “He didn’t seem happy, so after that we just took it from there.

 

“Obviously Golden State has been in the Finals and won two out of three, so that’s what everybody is trying to build up against. But we’re right there. We’re right there. Obviously, we have a lot of work to do, but it definitely puts us in a better chance.”

Related
Doc Rivers: Chris Paul Left ‘to Be with James Harden’