On January 15, 2021, two days after he was traded to the Nets in a package that included both young stars and seven draft picks and swaps, James Harden made it clear to the media over Zoom that Brooklyn was his first choice.
“They were on the top of my list,” Harden said, confirming all the rumors. “There were a few other teams involved as well and it could have got crazy. Credit to the Houston Rockets who were an unbelievable organization and worked with me. As bad as it looked from the outside, internally, they worked with me and they made sure I ended up here.