Harden has never denied that star players should have a say in coaching and personnel decisions. He was pretty clear about how he felt about the matter.
“This is the team that they go out there and compete with, so [star players] should have some kind of say-so,” Rockets guard James Harden said. “Obviously, the owners and the general managers and those guys have the final decision, but the star player should have some kind of input.
“If you’re the star player and you’re going out there trying to lead that team every single night,” Harden said, “I think that should be the case.”
Harden has used his influence to help push Kevin McHale out of the door and it isn’t a secret he wouldn’t have been hurt if Dwight Howard was traded. Dwight had more say over if he was traded or not because he can opt out of his deal, that is why it didn’t happen.
According to CBS Sports because Harden wields this power it is having a negative effect on the locker room.
“It’s really bad for the locker room dynamic,” a person familiar with the situation told CBS Sports. “If everybody knows that James Harden can fire you or trade you, are you going to pass the ball to Dwight or are you going to pass the ball to James Harden?”
Harden isn’t the only star player that has this type of power over a franchise, but considering the disappointing season the Rockets are having, regardless of his personal accomplishments on the court, he will bear some of the responsibilities for the team failures.
That is what happens when you are DA MAN on a team.