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James Harden Fires Back: He [Kevin McHale] Is A Clown

Yesterday, we reported that James Harden’s former coach Kevin McHale doesn’t see him as a leader, mainly because of his lackluster defense. During McHale’s time in Houston, Harden reportedly was the one pushing for the Rockets to fire him.

A reaction from Harden was obvious, and now we got one. When asked by a reporter, Harden called McHale a “clown”, who wasn’t able to teach him anything to be a leader. The situation seems to escalate quickly. Here’s what Harden had to say:

“He’s a clown. Honestly. I did anything and everything he asked me to do.

“Honestly, he’s never taught me anything … to be a leader. But I’ve done a great job. The organization, my coaches, you can ask any of those guys how I’ve worked extremely hard every single day to better … obviously be a basketball player, but be a leader as well. There’s different types of leaders as well.

“To go on air and downplay my name like that, it shows his character. I usually don’t go back and forth on social media with anybody, or interviews, but I need to stand up for myself, and there it is. Just don’t go and do that. It shows the type of person he is.”

Reporter: Do you think he’s bitter?

“Sure. And I had nothing to do with it. You know I’m just here to do my job, compete at the highest level I can. But when you’re hearing, and you’re face to face, and you’re telling me one thing, ‘how great of a player you were,’ how lucky that he’s a part of this process, and then you go back a few years later and basically say the opposite, it shows your character, shows who you really are, and I’m not that type of person. I don’t operate that way. I don’t say things to somebody behind their back, or tell them one thing and then go on air and say another thing.”

Transcript via CBS Sports.

James Harden on Kevin McHale saying he is no leader. "He's a clown."

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— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) October 7, 2017