Houston, you have a problem, at least according to ESPN analyst Jay Williams.
The former Duke Blue Devil claims Chris Paul was a better fit for James Harden than Russell Westbrook on the Houston Rockets, and used a clip from their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers to try and prove it. "It's the biggest story of the night. There are trust issues in Houston," Williams said on Thursday's Get Up. "It's like a Drake song."
The former college basketball star pointed out one play during the game where Harden appears to be looking in Westbrook's direction with five seconds left on the shot clock. The Houston guard eyed his co-star, appeared hesitant to pass it to him even though he was wide open, and then passed it to Westbrook, who missed the shot.
"That's a major issue going down the stretch," Williams said, implying that Harden thinks twice before passing it to Westbrook. "James Harden is wondering, can I trust my number 2? My number 2 cannot shoot which does not fit into our offense. Trust issues."
Many fans think Williams is overreacting, especially considering that his evidence of trust issues appears to consist of one play during a game the Rockets won anyway. "Bro showed one clip and now they got 'trust issues,'" one YouTuber commented. "C'mon now Jay. Another YouTuber agreed: Naah not reading into any of this. They be swinging it to each other. Westbrook went cold down the stretch. Harden was in takeover mode. No real story here."
Despite the apparent issues, Westbrook wasn't worried about teaming up with Harden back in July. "To able to win you gotta be able to sacrifice some parts of your game, and we both understand that," he said. "We both understand that we have one common goal and that's to win a championship, so we understand what we have to do. I'm not worried about it, I know James is not worried about it. I can play off the ball."
