NBA: Harden-Westbrook Team-Up Not Working Out, Rockets Role Players Might Step Up

Houston Rockets might focus on role players if James Harden and Russell Westbrook wouldn’t work out well next season.

The arrival of Westbrook to the Houston Rockets brought the team hope to finally become NBA championship contenders. However, as the team starts to practice, it appears that the Harden-Westbrook duo is not working out well.

In a press conference during the 2019 NBA Media Day, rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni admitted that he hasn’t seen the chemistry they expected from Harden and Westbrook yet. But despite not having seen the “dynamic” yet, D’Antoni hinted that the Rockets will be open to give the role players a chance to stand out next season.

“To be honest with you, we haven’t seen that dynamic between him (Westbrook) and James (Harden) but the rest of the guys are exciting, Daniel House excites me. He should have a big year,” D’Antoni admitted.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey also insisted that not only Westbrook and Harden are the players who could contribute to the team. According to Morey, almost all players in their roster are capable of contributing to make Rockets a championship team.

“We go in to the year feeling really good about a lot of players. 10, 11, 12 that we think can contribute to a championship team, now we gotta see if we can go out there and do it,” Morey stated.

Harden on his part, is ready to take all the blame if the Rockets will not win the NBA title next season. According to Harden, this is not the first time he dealt with this kind of situation and he truly believe that he will not be credited for all the hardwork he will put in if his team loses.

"If we don't win it, I'll take all the blame for that. That's why you have to go out there and win. That's why we work extremely hard in the offseason to bring players in, or whatever is necessary to give ourselves that chance to win. I know what's at stake, I know that if we don't win James Harden and such-and-such don't get the credit for it. They're going to talk down, or create a narrative of whatever they want to create. This ain't my first rodeo," Harden exclaimed.

Harden is also dealing with some issues regarding his famous “step-back” move which some believe is considered traveling. But the 2018 NBA Season MVP insisted that his move was never a violation.

In an interview with Houston Chronicle, Harden even stated that he hopes other NBA stars would do the same move as well in the future.

“So, live with it. Hopefully, your favorite players will start doing it, too,” Harden said.