James Harden Excited to Play With a ‘Killer’ in Russell Westbrook

James Harden can’t wait to team up with fellow superstar Russell Westbrook again, whom he considers a “a killer, for real.”

Harden, 30, can hear the clock ticking as he chases his first NBA title and Rockets ownership believes their championship window will be open for the next three-to-four years.

Harden wants to play the rest of his career in Houston, and feels the franchise has given him every opportunity to win at the highest level.

Per Bleacher Report:

There will be an adjustment period, “a lot of ups and downs” through the regular season, Harden concedes. “But I’m more excited to go into war, postseason, with somebody that is, like, a dog,” he says. “Somebody that’s a killer, for real.”

Sure, Harden has turned in a few untimely clunkers in his 116-game playoff career. It happens, even to MVPs. What irks him, he says, is the assertion by some critics that “James didn’t show up.”

“Well,” Harden says, firing back at those same critics, “James averaged 31, seven and seven in the postseason, and we just didn’t have enough talent around him, but I’m never going to throw my teammates under the bus.”

He catches himself. “You see how I’m just explaining myself right now? It’s like, all that stuff, I don’t even need to do that. I’ll just let them make up a story and just, you know, keep pushing, trying to get better.”

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