Dallas Mavericks commentator Brian Dameris has torn new LA Clippers recruit James Harden a new one in an absolutely brutal two-minute rant.
Harden worked his way to the Clippers after an unhappy time in Philadelphia, finally getting out of the franchise late last month.
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Harden had only joined the 76ers in February 2022, where he made the monster move from the Nets, with Aussie Ben Simmons one of the players going the other way.
It was only July last year that Harden had signed a $US68.6m ($A108m) deal over two years.
But it just got uglier from there as Harden spent the off-season angling for a trade, including calling his long-time boss Daryl Morey “a liar” and many other choice words as he vowed never to play for another team Morey is part of.
There’s no doubt Harden is a star, having been a 10-time NBA All-Star, three-time scoring champion and 2018 MVP. He also has an Olympic gold medal from the London Games.
All he’s missing is an NBA title, although he now has his best chance on a team with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook.
But since Harden joined LA, the Clippers have had a 111-97 loss to the Knicks, 100-93 loss to the Nets and 144-126 loss to the Mavericks to fall to 3-5 to start the season — all matches with their big four playing — the team of superstars has yet to gel.
Harden himself has scored just 14.5 points — more than 10 points a game down on his career numbers — 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists.
And it’s left the door open for plenty of criticism, particularly after Harden’s latest petulant act to get out of a team.
Speaking before the Clippers’ latest loss to Dallas, Mavericks analyst Dameris unloaded on Harden in a scathing drive-by.
“I’m going to ask the producer to pipe this into the Clippers’ locker room so I can talk to you James, I hope you’re taking notes,” he began.
“I get on my knees every night and pray for someone to believe in me like Daryl Morey believed in you.
“You wanted a certain coach, they brought in Mike D’Antoni.
“You wanted to play a certain style, they played it.
“You wanted Dwight Howard, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him.
“You wanted Chris Paul, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of him.
“They brought in your old friend Russell Westbrook.
“You wanted to go to Vegas on your off days, they looked away.
“You wanted to team to stay over so you could go out at night, they changed the schedule. And it didn’t work.
“You said I’m going to break up with my woobie, not good enough, I see the bright lights of New York, I want to go there with my old pal Kevin Durant. It’s going to work, the big three (with Kyrie Irving). And after one year, you wanted out. You realised ‘oh my god, I took this guy for granted, the guy that believed in me — I want back with Daryl Morey’.
“They traded Ben Simmons for you, how did they pull that off? And you know what, you went there and you go a partner who got the MVP — he got the MVP! And what did you say afterwards? ‘They didn’t hand me the reins’. You’re the point guard. You were holding the reins. And what did you do when you had the reins? You scored nine points in game seven against Boston, you blew a 3-2 series lead.”
Damn — tell us how you really feel Brian.
It was a rant so savage, if it were boxing, the referee would have waved it off a long time ago.
But Dameris wasn’t done.
“So they fired their coach, not good enough. You broke up with the guy who believed in you again,” he said.
“You said ‘the bright lights of LA, that’s where I want to go, let’s see if that works’.
“Listen James, have you ever had those friends who had bad roommates? Over and over again they complained about their bad roommates.
“They never thought to be self aware enough that they’re the bad roommate, they’re the problem.
“Hey James, you’re the problem.
“If this doesn’t work this year, in this system, with this team, then you’re going to go and point fingers at everybody else and you’re going to go home and start swiping right for another team. There’s not going to be anybody left because James, you’re not The Beard, you’re not the system — you’re the problem.”
In the immortal words of the kid in the crowd of the Simpsons meme: “Stop it, he’s already dead.”
Fans were loving the reality check.
One fan wrote: “Mavs Brian Dameris mic drop on James Harden wow.”
Another added: “A cooking this bad has gotta be illegal bro. Harden got disassembled by Dameris.”
Another posted: “Props to Brian Dameris for having the stones to say this on live tv. He is 100% right about Harden he has been the problem for a long time who blames everyone else.”
Another said: “Brian Dameris went OFF and just deep fried James Harden.”
Now, it’s likely the Clippers will gel eventually and go on a run, but it’s not been a great start for Harden’s time in LA.
And the pressure is on with the Clippers ready to win now after trading away plenty to get Harden in the hunt for the franchise’s maiden NBA title.
The trade for Harden saw the Sixers get Marcus Morris, Nic Batum, Robert Covington and KJ Martin as well as a bag of picks, while James Harden, PJ Tucker and Filip Petrusev will head to LA.
The picks the Clippers will send reportedly include a 2028 unprotected first-round pick, two second-round picks and a pick swap, as well as an additional future first-round pick from a third team.
Then again if the Clippers don’t win, we know exactly who to blame.
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