The James Harden trade is off to a shaky start for the Clippers.
The 10-time All-Star is on his fourth team in four years and wanted out from his previous squad, the 76ers, in part because he felt as though he was “on a leash.” He explained in his introductory press conference with the Clippers that he’s “not a system player; I am a system.”
Since Harden joined, the Clippers are 0-4 with a struggling offense and defense.
He’s been a cause of concern, even for those associated with other organizations.
MORE: Why Clippers’ James Harden trade is off to disastrous start
Bally Sports Southwest NBA analyst Brian Dameris had a few words for the guard during the broadcast of the Mavericks’ recent 144-126 win over the Clippers. The clip went viral, and the network even promoted it, saying, “Tell us how you really feel, @bdameris. Mic drop.”
The post has since been deleted, though.
In his statement, Dameris broke down Harden’s last couple of years, from playing in Brooklyn as part of the Big Three to heading to Philly with eventual MVP Joel Embiid. Calmly, he criticized Harden’s blame of others.
Mavericks announcer Brian Dameris rants about James Harden pic.twitter.com/aqd0TAyyO2
— NBA Dramatics (@NBADramatics) November 11, 2023
“I hope you’re taking notes,” Dameris started. “I’m telling you in advance, you’re welcome for the wisdom I’m about to spew. Because listen, I get on my knees every night and pray for someone to believe in me like Daryl Morey believed in you.”
The announcer mentioned the stars Harden played with, like Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Russel Westbrook, but still did not work out.
MORE: Why Clippers’ James Harden-Russell Westbrook backcourt experiment will — and won’t — work
“You wanted to go to Vegas on off days, they looked away. You wanted the team to stay over so you could go out at night, they changed the schedule and it didn’t work,” Dameris continued.
“Because, James, you’re not the beard, you’re not the system, you’re the problem.”
After hyping it up, Bally Sports decided to remove its association with the rant.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina, there was no outside influence from the Clippers, the NBA or Harden himself that caused the deletion of the tweet. It came from the network’s executives who claimed the clip “did not reflect the Mavericks organization.” Supposedly, Dameris’ “editorializing” went against the network’s “values.”
Was there more to it than meets the eye?
Like everything on the internet, the video cannot be deleted permanently. The deletion has caused criticism, not just because Dameris has seemed to win the court of public opinion, but because removing the tweet does nothing to remove his statement.
Take it down from what? The video was posted everywhere😭😭
— Aidan LaPorta (@AidanLaPorta69) November 14, 2023
Nah that’s honestly counter productive. Everyone screen recorded that, it was refreshing to see a TV analyst be full honest about James Harden and it go viral. Everyone else will post it and they did already and they’ll keep it up.
— Tom Sears (@LurkinTomGaming) November 14, 2023
