James Harden didn’t play in the last game between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers, which infamously ended in a locker room confrontation involving a “secret” passageway and ended with two suspensions. But Harden is healthy now, and Blake Griffin isn’t even on the Clippers anymore, traded away about a month ago.
James Harden has already forgotten who Blake Griffin is, one month after ‘Tunnel Gate’
Houston plays Los Angeles for the first time since their “secret tunnel” locker room shenanigans.
Ahead of the first Rockets-Clippers matchup (Wednesday, 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN) since that incident, Harden was interviewed and even asked about Griffin, responding with total shade: “Who’s that?”
Harden appears to be learning lessons from Chris Paul, who notoriously didn’t completely get along with his costar for five seasons in Los Angeles. After the last game, Paul couldn’t resist getting in a pretty good barb at Griffin, saying the Clippers should focus on running their offense through their go-to player, Lou Williams. With Griffin gone, Williams actually is their go-to player, which may or may not calm tensions between the two teams. (Austin Rivers is still on the roster, and he’s actually playing again now, so maybe not.)
Of course, it’s worth remembering we all exaggerated the reality of what happened last month — there was no secret tunnel, and no front door diversion, and no involvement from Paul or Harden beyond peacekeeping efforts. SB Nation summarized the actual events of the tomfoolery a few days after it happened.
Still, we all had a good time with a harmless news story, though it’s good that the record has now been set straight. If something like that happens again, then Twitter certainly won’t be complaining. There’s even still a chance these two teams face each other in the playoffs, although Los Angeles must catch either the No. 7 or No. 8 seeded teams to do that, depending on whether Houston can hold onto the No. 1 seed or not. The Clippers are currently one game back from the Denver Nuggets, who occupy the Western Conference’s final playoff spot.
In conclusion, we all love rivalries and hope this one keeps on giving.
