James Harden is the Most Hilarious Player in the NBA

As I am writing this, it is late Monday night on the West Coast. I just got off work, and while I was on my shift, reports surfaced that James Harden has unexpectedly requested a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers. Completely out of nowhere.

I am genuinely shocked. The Clippers have been playing great basketball recently after a tough stretch earlier in the season. Harden has arguably been playing his best basketball in years. He is not the MVP version of himself from Houston, but he is still a winning player who is putting up strong numbers. More importantly, the Clippers have been winning consistently over the past month or so.

That is what makes this trade request so confusing.

I am sure more reports will surface in the coming days as we get closer to the trade deadline, but I have to say this. James Harden is absolutely hilarious.

2020-21 Season: In Houston, Harden requests a trade because he no longer believes the team can compete for a championship after a failed Russell Westbrook experiment that lasted just one year. He maneuvers his way out as he may or may not have worn a fat suit and showed up to training camp out of shape. Eventually, he gets exactly what he wants and lands in Brooklyn, teaming up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

2021-22 Season: After growing frustrated with the Kyrie Irving vaccine situation that prevented Irving from playing in home games, Harden requests another trade. This time, he finds his way to Philadelphia to play alongside Joel Embiid.

That partnership flames out in the playoffs twice, in 2022 and again in 2023.

Summer 2023: Harden wants out of Philly and goes an international tour letting everyone know after Daryl Morey refuses to give him a contract extension that Harden believed he had been promised after arriving in Philadelphia and taking a team-friendly deal for the 2022-23 season. During a trip to China, Harden famously tells a group of kids at an Adidas event that Morey is a liar and that he will never play for one of his teams again. I am paraphrasing, but that was essentially the message. I am not entirely sure those kids had any idea what he was talking about.

2023-24 Season: After starting the season in Philadelphia, the master of the trade request gets what he wants. Not only does Harden get traded, but he gets to his preferred destination, the Los Angeles Clippers.

I thought this would be it for Harden as he was going home as he is from the Los Angeles area. He is starting to raise a family. If you watched Starting Five, he genuinely seemed happy. It felt like this was where he would settle down and finish out his Hall of Fame career.

2025-26 Season: And now, out of nowhere, as soon as the Clippers are playing winning basketball, he wants out again. According to early reports, the frontrunner to land Harden is the Cleveland Cavaliers in a potential deal involving Darius Garland. From Harden’s perspective, I actually like the basketball fit. Teaming up with Donovan Mitchell in a weaker Eastern Conference makes sense if the goal is another deep playoff run... But still, you cannot help but laugh.

Just when you think Harden is happy and settled, he pulls the rug out from under you. You never know what his next move is going to be.

Harden has had a Hall of Fame career on the court. But he has also built a Hall of Fame trade request resume that deserves its own exhibit in the Basketball Hall of Fame. His plans or tactics for forcing trades are second to none. When he wants something, he gets it.

Harden might not be the Michael Jordan or LeBron James of basketball greatness for everyone, but when it comes to trade requests, he is the undisputed GOAT. One of the greatest to ever do it, on and off the floor.