On January 18, Beijing time, the NBA regular season, the Brooklyn Nets lost 107-114 to the Cavaliers on the road. In this game, Durant was absent due to injury, Harden and Irving jointly cut 49 points, 14 rebounds and 19 assists, but lacked an NBA scoring king, the Nets' offensive firepower is not as good as before, losing to the Cavaliers is not shameful, after all, the latter is the top team in the East, the super dark horse of the 21-22 season. The concern, though, is that Harden may be a little discouraged, and he is bent on winning the NBA championship, but now it seems that the probability of winning the championship in Brooklyn is getting smaller and smaller.
Last season, the Nets were nearly invincible in the regular season, and the playoffs also overpowered the Bucks. But when Irving and Harden were injured one after another, the Nets were also reversed by the Bucks, so they missed the Eastern Conference Finals, watching the Bucks "abuse" all the way to win the championship. And 2022 is the time for the Nets to compete for the championship, but after almost half of the season, the Nets' crisis came, and Durant was absent for 4-6 weeks because of the sprained left knee of the subtropics, that is to say, before March, Durant would most likely not play and would basically miss the All-Star Game.
Durant's injury is undoubtedly a thunderbolt for the Nets, because KD's health determines whether the Nets can win the championship, and whether the Nets can win the championship determines whether the team can retain the core big three, so KD's injury may cause a chain reaction. Just today, the Nets' core guard Harden is suspected of expressing his desire to leave the team, it seems that Harden's patience has also been exhausted, not that Harden does not trust his teammates, but that Irving is too chilling to consider the Nets players at all.
Irving officially stated after the Nets lost to the Cavaliers that he refused to be vaccinated, and even if the Nets experienced injury, he would still stick to it. Durant was injured, Irving was still unmoved, insisting on the so-called "ideal" in his heart, and Harden also expressed the idea of a suspected departure today, which is the first time he has been dissatisfied since he joined the Nets for 1 year.
According to NBA celebrity Stein, some NBA insiders believe that Harden is willing to leave the Nets and change the team, and Philadelphia plans to open a trade between Simmons and Harden in the offseason. Originally, this was just the speculation of journalists, and there may not be a reliable source, but Harden's behavior indirectly confirmed the authenticity of the report.
Harden liked the report that "Harden is willing to leave the team" on social media, but soon after, Harden canceled the like, but many foreign netizens still noticed Harden's "statement", which also caused heated discussion. In this way, the possibility of Harden leaving the Nets in the summer of 2022 has become increasingly large.
Neither Harden nor Irving renewed their contracts with the Nets, only the eldest brother Durant showed loyalty in advance, renewed his contract with the Nets for many years, and is expected to play in Brooklyn until retirement. But Harden is different, he does not have a championship, where can help him fight for the championship, he may join, and Irving's relationship with the Nets is not so old. Now, Durant is injured, and the Nets look like they are falling apart, depending on how long Harden can hold out. In short, if he can't win the championship in June, Harden has at least an 80% chance of leaving the Nets.