Basketball

Tracy McGrady isn’t sold on James Harden’s injury status: ‘He shut it down’

Excuse Tracy McGrady if he isn’t completely buying into James Harden’s injury status.

The freshly minted 76ers star missed his final four games with the Nets because of a tight hamstring before being traded last week. He will not suit up for his new squad until after the NBA All-Star break. Harden practiced with Philadelphia on Monday, which produced video of him taking stepback jumpers that caught McGrady’s attention. He accused Harden of taking himself out of the lineup when things went sour in Brooklyn amid an 11-game losing streak.

“We all know Philly was his first choice [last season] before he went to Brooklyn, so when things hit the fan he wanted out of there. He shut it down,” McGrady said on the NBA on TNT pregame show Tuesday. “He wasn’t hurt. He wasn’t hurt. He shut it down. Y’all think he’s hurt right now?”

A laughing Dwyane Wade chimed in by saying: “No, you saw those stepbacks?”

“My point exactly,” McGrady replied. “You don’t rehab a hammy by doing stepbacks.”

James Harden
AP

That wasn’t the only critique the Hall of Famer had of Harden, also highlighting the Beard talking during his introductory press conference about wanting to play with guys who wanted to win. The statement felt like a direct jab at his former unvaccinated Nets teammate Kyrie Irving and potentially others.

Web Search Engine

“What are you insinuating?” McGrady said. “That the guys in Brooklyn didn’t want to win? Is that what we talkin’ about? That’s what it sounds like to me.”

Harden did say during his press conference that Irving’s part-time status because of his unwillingness to comply with New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate had a “very minimal” effect on his desire to leave but “definitely” impacted the team.

The 10-time All-Star will now try to win his elusive title with a 76ers team sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference after the Nets’ Big 3 got to play just 16 game together.

Artmotion U.S.A

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button