James Harden’s Assertion After Russell Westbrook, Paul George Departures

The LA Clippers had 4 future Corridor of Fame gamers on their roster final season. Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Russell Westbrook and James Harden all hail from Southern California, which added one other distinctive dynamic to the quartet.

Earlier than the Harden commerce, the Clippers had Westbrook as their level guard alongside Leonard and George. The workforce initially tried a beginning lineup with all 4 stars, however moved Westbrook to the bench after a six-game shedding streak (5 with that lineup).

The Clippers had been 26-5 from December 2 to February 5, however simply 17-16 the remainder of the season. Paul George stated on his podcast earlier this summer time that it was tough to regulate to not solely Harden’s arrival, but in addition the departures of Nicolas Batum and Robert Covington.

Requested throughout Monday’s media day what his mindset is now that George and Westbrook are gone, Harden positioned sturdy emphasis on his particular person aggressiveness.

“Aggressive. Aggressive,” Harden stated. “We tried final 12 months to determine the place, you understand, making an attempt to know guys and their roles. It is a little bit tough when you will have excessive caliber gamers or Corridor of Famers and mainly in the identical place, everybody making an attempt to determine their position. It was fairly powerful, however this 12 months I had clear leeway for what I wanted to do.

Admitting it was tough with all 4 stars collectively, Harden stated his method was a lot clearer this season, on condition that he and Leonard had been the workforce’s huge carries.

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