James Harden's Thunder title proclamation with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook

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It is incredible to think the Oklahoma City Thunder once housed three future Most Valuable Players: Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook. After the 2011-12 Thunder lost 4-1 to the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals, Oklahoma City traded Westbrook to the Houston Rockets. In a recent episode of the "Earn Your Leisure" podcast, Harden says a disagreement over a contract extension ultimately led to his departure. James believes he, Durant, and Westbrook would have won at least two championships if he stayed.

However, the Thunder's unwillingness to settle on an additional $4 million at the negotiating table ultimately ended negotiations, according to Harden.

"My rookie year, we're the 8th seed, and we play the Lakers; we scared them and had OKC cracking, and they won the chip. My second year, we play Dallas in the WCF, and they win the chip. My 3rd year, we in the finals against the Heat, and that was Bron's first ring. My 4th year, it would've been ON, and then I got traded a few days before the season," Harden said. "Eventually, I would have had to end up starting. We would've won 2 chips at the least if I hadn't got traded. It was over 4 million dollars".

The Thunder reportedly used the extra money to re-sign Serge Ibaka to keep the frontcourt intact. Still, if Harden had stayed, would he have ever risen to become an elite star?

"Probably not," Harden replied. "It's hard to say because I was eventually going to have to start starting. It was cracking. I was willing to sacrifice for the team. As a team, it made us better. But I was eventually going to have to start starting. My swag was getting there, too, in my fourth year; I'm not a sixth man anymore. I already got that. But, it was over 4 million dollars. But it was a blessing, though, because coming off the Finals, I didn't play well. Then, Olympics, an opportunity to be around all these vets."

For Harden, becoming the Rockets' franchise player expedited his ascension to an NBA superstar.

James Harden says if Russ, KD and him stayed together in OKC they would've won 2 championships minimum and OKC didn't pay him over only $4 million

"My rookie year we're the 8th seed and we play the Lakers, we scared them and had OKC cracking and they won the chip. My second… pic.twitter.com/UhJ6ovBtVq

— 08-17 Russ fan (@TheWestbrookEra) November 22, 2024

James Harden says 2011-12 Thunder were championship material

Before Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the young, contending Thunder, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and the 2011-12 Thunder were the team to look out for in the Western Conference. Unfortunately, Durant was the only one of the three to win a championship when he signed with the Golden State Warriors.

Still, Harden is hopeful he'll get another shot between now and the end of his NBA career.

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