FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D5
his trade value.
It’s funny, this notion that
Harden cannot blend. Eleven
years and 11,000 step-back
jumpers ago, he entered the NBA
having convinced Sam Presti, the
Oklahoma City general manager,
that he was worthy of the No. 3
pick in the 2009 draft because he
was the ideal high-level
complementary player to stand
next to Durant and Westbrook.
As Harden developed over three
years there, he played that role
just fine and won sixth man of
the year for the 2011-12 season.
He made the U.S. Olympic team.
He was on a great ascension until
the Thunder decided not to pay
him the max. Presti traded
Harden to Houston, and the
Rockets unleashed his superstar
qualities. But now he has trouble
blending. And he will never win a
title as the clear No. 1 option.
What to do? In the fickle
climate of today’s NBA, it’s hard
to imagine a reconciliation,
especially with Harden prepared
to make the situation ugly. It may
take time for Harden to get his
wish, but movement defines the
league now.
Harden will get his way again,
which means he will get away
with the inappropriate manner
in which he pushed his employer.
After eight years, Houston must
accept its role in squandering a
championship opportunity with
a marquee player. But when the
end arrives, you must wonder
how Harden, coddled for so long,
will handle life without his
enablers.
[email protected]For more by Jerry Brewer, visit
washingtonpost.com/brewer.It’s not enough for great players
to want to win a championship.
They all do. The question is what
they’re willing to sacrifice to get
it. Even at the elite level, NBA
superstars are not created equal.
There are tiers within the
greatest tier. Harden lacks
something — a kind of mental
toughness, a level of flexibility to
his game, a commitment to
defense — that keeps him from
reaching the very top.
He can be brilliant, but he is
flawed. Houston created Harden
Ball, the perfect system for him... but only him, really.
Westbrook was the lone co-star
in Houston who managed to
average more than 20 points per
game alongside Harden. In the
past decade, just three teams
have won NBA titles without
multiple 20-point scorers: Dallas
in 2011, San Antonio in 2014 and
Toronto in 2019. But all those
squads had good depth and
multiple all-stars or future Hall
of Famers on the roster. No
matter how great your franchise
player, it’s essential for
championship teams to have
multiple stars and role players
maximizing their influence on
the game as well. The Rockets’
failure to achieve such cohesion
is not entirely Harden’s fault, but
he is the common denominator.
Of course, Harden wants to be
traded only to a contender. And
those contenders would have to
keep this history of
incompatibility in mind.
Considering his age, Harden
probably is at the tail end of his
prime. He is the best player
potentially available this year,
but for so many reasons, he is not
a universal fit, which could limit
team wants a star who produces
like Harden, but I’m not sure how
many teams actually want
Harden right now.
While the gamesmanship from
both Harden and the Rockets is
understandable, the reality is
that Harden should think twice
about running away from a team
that has given him nearly
everything he has wanted and
cycled through stars such as
Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and
Russell Westbrook in high-profile
attempts to pair him with a
championship-caliber partner.
On the other side, the Rockets
are reportedly seeking a treasure
trove of assets if they were to
trade Harden, acknowledging all
the ridiculous deals teams have
made for lesser players. But
they’re going to have to grow
more realistic about what
franchises are willing to deal for
a 31-year-old who hasn’t mixed
well for long with the other stars
Houston gave him.
Harden is a singular talent
who cannot win his way. Oh, he
can collect victories; the Rockets
have a .639 winning percentage
since he arrived in 2012. He can
accumulate stats; he is a three-
time scoring champion who also
has averaged at least seven
assists per game for six straight
seasons. In the postseason, he
can even lead a team to the cusp
of the NBA Finals. But in career-
defining moments, he hasn’t
shown the grit to propel his team.
At this stage in his career, it is
not a problem that patience and
experience can fix. Harden is a
finished product, and despite his
robust scoring numbers, he is
different from LeBron James,
Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.compel the Houston Rockets to
carry out his trade request,
making a delicate situation
uncomfortable and almost
malignant in the middle of a
pandemic.
Harden has become, sadly, a
prisoner of his own greatness. He
is addicted to getting away with
whatever he can, whether it is a
traveling violation or a desire to
go play with two other ball-
dominant stars in Brooklyn or a
mini-holdout during which he
was caught on video shunning
coronavirus precautions and
partying with a rapper.
Do not label this nonsense as
just another flex in this era of
NBA player empowerment.
That’s what Harden may think he
is doing, but in truth, he is
holding himself back with a
troubling sense of entitlement.
This isn’t merely about Harden
knowing his value and pushing
back against the NBA system
with a crystallized plan. This is a
player who, over eight seasons in
Houston, has been spoiled
immensely, yet he still wants
cake for dinner. And for what?
Just so he can say he had cake for
dinner.
Eventually, Harden figures to
get his way — again. But his
decision to report to Houston
and at least start the coronavirus
testing process indicates that he
may realize he must play the long
game. With the NBA rushing to
start the 2020-21 campaign
before Christmas, this is a
terrible time to pull off a
blockbuster trade featuring a
player scheduled to make
$41.2 million this season. Every
BREWER FROM D1
JERRY BREWER
Harden’s trade demand is ultimately self-sabotage
FROM NEWS SERVICES
Duke won’t play any more non-
conference men’s basketball
games in the regular season, the
school announced Thursday.
The move follows coronavirus-
related postponements of three
nonconference games this year,
though only one had been re-
scheduled.
In a r elease, the school said it
was a cautionary step because of
the pandemic as well as allowing
players to spend time with fami-
lies over the Christmas holidays.
“This is the best decision we
could make as a p rogram, in mak-
ing sure that we are doing the right
thing for our players,” Duke Coach
Mike Krzyz ewski said in a state-
ment.
Duke was originally scheduled
to open Nov. 25 against Gardner-
Webb, though that game was post-
poned because of a positive coro-
navirus test and contact tracing
within the Runnin’ Bulldogs pro-
gram. T hat game was eventually
rescheduled for Dec. 19.
Games against Elon for Dec. 6
and Charleston Southern on Sat-
urday already had been post-
poned after those programs
paused team activities, with no
makeup date for either.
Duke (2-2) has lost home games
to No. 4 Michigan State and No. 6Illinois. The Blue Devils open ACC
play at Notre Dame on Wednesday
night, followed by a Dec. 29 visit
from Pittsburgh.
l CANCELLATION: South
Carolina called off its men’s bas-
ketball game at George Washing-
ton on Monday because of a posi-
tive coronavirus test.
The team had paused activities
Tuesday and canceled a home
game with Wofford scheduled for
Thursday. T he school said the ear-
liest the team could resume activi-
ties was Dec. 16.Cavs women lose ACC opener
The Virginia women’s basket-
ball team opened ACC pl ay with a71-55 loss to Clemson in Char-
lottesville.
Clemson (6-0, 1-0 ACC) led for
all but 14 seconds of the game, but
the Cavaliers (0-4, 0-1) narrowed
an 18-point deficit to seven in the
fourth quarter before the Tigers
managed to hold on.
Redshirt sophomore guard
Amandine Toi scored a career-
high 23 points for Virginia, going
5 for 9 from three-point range.
D anae McNeal scored a team-
high 11 points for the Tigers.
“I’m extremely proud of my
kids,” Virginia Coach Tina T homp-
son said. “... I thought that we
played really tough and we were
very resilient.”l VIRGINIA TECH 88,
PITTSBURGH 71: Sophomore
Cayla King hit seven three-point-
ers and finished with a career-
high 29 points as the Hokies (6-0)
overcame an 11-point deficit and
won their ACC opener over the
Panthers (2-2) in Blacksburg, Va.
l ARIZONA 65, ARIZONA
STATE 37: Aari McDonald had
22 points and made five three-
pointers, and the No. 6 Wildcats
quickly turned their game vs. the
Sun Devils in Tucson into a r out.
Arizona (4-0, 3-0 Pac-12) had to
eke out a w in over Southern Cali-
fornia on Sunday, but it was in
control from the start against Ari-
zona State (4 -2, 1-2).l BAYLOR 65, WEST VIR-
GINIA 45 : DiJonai Carrington
scored 14 of her 19 points in the
decisive third quarter, and the
No. 7 Bears (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) pulled
away from the Mountaineers (4-1,
0-1) in Morgantown, W.Va.
l TEXAS A&M 79, ARKAN-
SAS LITTLE ROCK 56: Aaliyah
Wilson scored 13 points, Destiny
Pitts finished with 12, and the
No. 10 Aggies (5-0) beat the Tro-
jans (2-2) in Little Rock.
l CANCELLATION: The
George Mason-Georgetown wom-
en’s game scheduled for Sunday
was canceled after a positive coro-
navirus test within the Hoyas pro-
gram.COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP
In wake of pandemic, Duke will not play any more nonconference games
BY GENE WANG
No. 18 Virginia made it
through only four games this
season before virus-related com-
plications led to its first post-
ponement, scrapping the highly
anticipated matchup against
fourth-ranked Michigan State on
Wednesday in the ACC/Big Ten
Challenge at John Paul Jones
Arena.
At least one positive test with-
in the Cavaliers’ locker room,
according to the athletic depart-
ment, also put on hold games
against visiting William & Mary
on Sunday night and the ACC
opener against Wake Forest next
Wednesday night in Winston-Sa-
lem, N.C.
It’s unclear whether Virginia
(3-1) paused all basketball-relat-
ed activities. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
guidelines suggest isolating for
10 day s in the event of a positive
test and quarantining for 14 days
for those with possible exposure
to someone who has tested posi-
tive, with the potential to reduce
that duration to 10 or as few as
seven days.
That recommendation could
place in jeopardy the Cavaliers’
nonconference game against
No. 9 Villanova on Dec. 19 at
Madison Square Garden. The
Wildcats have won two national
championships since 2016.
Wednesday’s game against
Michigan State was set to match
brothers Sam and Joey Hauser,
bot h of whom transferred from
Marquette and sat out last sea-
son. Sam Hauser, a redshirt sen-
ior forward, is Virginia’s leading
scorer, and Joey Hauser, a r ed-
shirt junior forward, leads the
Spartans in scoring.
Michigan State arrived in
Charlottesville on Tuesday be-
fore the postponement was an-
nounced late that night, with no
makeup dat e immediately in the
works.
Virginia Coach Tony Bennett
was well aware of the risks
associated with playing this sea-
son during the pandemic, par-
ticularly given the recent surge
in cases that led to a single-day
record 3,140 reported deaths
in the United States on Wednes-
day.
During the first wave of the
pandemic in March, the ACC
canceled its men’s basketball
tou rnament after two days and
six completed games in Greens-
boro, N.C., which is scheduled to
host again this season. The reign-
ing national champions had not
even played a game at Greens-
boro Coliseum when they
learned of the cancellation that
ended a season filled with prom-
ise. The surging Cavaliers had
won eight in a row and 11 of their
final 12 to secure the No. 2 seedin the ACC tournament.
“You realize how much physi-
cal touch is important when you
just li ke to put your arm around
a pl ayer,” Bennett said in Novem-
ber, adding that several of his
players already had tested posi-
tive. “You know, pat them on the
back or whatever. You don’t do
that as much, and then you have
got your mask on.
“You feel a l ittle disconnected,
so that part has been challeng-
ing, but it does beat the alterna-
tive, so I’m very thankful for
that.”
Virginia’s football team,
meanwhile, has managed to
avoid serious repercussions from
the virus. Each of its games that
was canceled or rescheduled re-
sulted from an outbreak withinthe opponent’s locker room.
Two weekends ago, Virginia
arrived in Tallahassee, the day
before a Saturday night kickoff
against Florida State, only to
learn Saturday morning the
game was called off because of
virus-related issues on the part of
the Seminoles.
“You try to prepare as best as
possible and just try to maintain
your distance and just try to stay
safe, just so you can be able to go
out there and compete,” Cava-
liers junior point guard Kihei
Clark said. “So just trying to
make sure your teammates a re
staying safe and make sure
they’re following protocols. Any-
thing can happen, so we don’t
really know what to expect.”
[email protected]Cavs’ virus concerns interrupt season
ERIN EDGERTON/CHARLOTTESVILLE DAILY PROGRESS
Coach Tony Bennett and Virginia have pla yed just four games this season. Three were postponed.BY GLYNN A. HILL
Some players hoped to redeem
last season’s disappointing fin-
ish. Others hoped a run in the
Texas state football playoffs
would boost their chances for a
college scholarship.
Edinburg High had earned a
spot in the playoffs with a 35-21
victory over Pharr-San Juan-Ala-
mo on Dec. 3. But the game
brought national attention upon
the South Texas community of
100,000 for an ugly incident in
the second quarter, when Edin-
burg’s star player angrily bowled
over a referee after his ejection. A
video clip went viral. The player
was charged with assault. And a
week later, the entire team was
banned from the postseason.
The Edinburg school district
announced the day after the
game that it would withhold the
team from the playoffs in re-
sponse to defensive end Emman-
uel Duron knocking over referee
Fred Gracia. Edinburg was re-
placed by another area team,
which will play in the first round
Friday.
“I’m still shocked,” senior line-
backer Oscar Cruz said. “I still
don’t believe it. I still feel like I’m
going to play on Friday, but I’m
sure it’ll hit whenever I see the
other school play.”
Players and their parents said
they don’t condone Duron’s ac-
tions. Ultimately, their frustra-
tion is centered on the district’s
disciplinary measures.
“Had the officials at halftime
said, ‘You know what, it’s a
forfeit, we’re disqualifying the
team right now, go home,’ I
would have taken that better
than the officials letting them
play the second half knowing
that you’re going to disqualify
them the next day,” said Frank
Coronado, father of Frankie Cor-
onado, a senior tackle on the
team. “That was not right.”
Miguel Farias, president of the
Edinburg school district board,
and interim superintendent Gil-
bert Garza Jr. addressed the
matter Tuesday in a board meet-
ing. Farias said the board’s hand
was forced by the University
Interscholastic League, the
state’s governing athletic body. In
the meeting, which was
streamed online, Farias said that,
while he supported the decision
to remove the team from the
playoffs, it was made “very clear
to the district that UIL would
have removed the football team
from the playoffs if the district
did not withdraw the team them-
selves.”
Garza, who was responsible
for the decision, said in the
meeting that he thought it would
have “created a lot more sanc-
tions on us as a district” had he
not withdrawn the team.
The district declined a r equest
to speak with Garza. It said in a
statement to The Washington
Post that it would not comment
further on the incident involving
Duron until its investigation was
completed.
The UIL said in a statement:
“Physical contact with a sports
official is never appropriate. Our
thoughts and well wishes are
with the official involved. We
applaud the Edinburg CISD ad-
ministration for addressing this
situation swiftly and taking ap-
propriate action in removing
themselves from the playoffs and
for dealing with the student
involved in the incident.”
The athletic body’s executive
committee is scheduled to revisit
the decision Monday, three days
after Edinburg’s would-be open-
ing playoff game.
Shortly after players learned
of their playoff removal, Edin-burg Coach J.J. Leija confirmed
the district’s decision to the play-
ers during their midday athletics
class elective, which, like all of
their classes, is being conducted
remotely.
“I could tell he was very disap-
pointed, very heartbroken. I had
never seen Coach like that,” said
Cruz, the senior linebacker.
Frankie Coronado organized a
response via group chat with
Cruz and other teammates. Some
30 players gathered outside city
hall Friday evening to appeal for
the chance to play. According to
several players and a parent,
Garza invited the players into the
board room and explained his
reasoning. He said the decision
was final.
Cruz has dedicated himself to
the team since he volunteered to
be a ballboy in seventh grade. He
and his teammates dreamed of a
playoff season as upperclassmen.
Less than 24 hours after Duron
was ejected from the game that
seemingly actualized that dream,
Cruz tried to pacify his frustra-
tions by focusing on the relation-
ships he built during his football
career.
“They feel like brothers to me
just because I spent so many
hours with them in football,” he
said of his teammates. “Those
guys in general, I would do
anything for them.”
But the season was effectively
ended in an instant.
Edinburg led by a touchdown
when Duron’s frustrations began
to boil over; multiple teammates
said Gracia, the referee, used
profanities to scold him after
penalties. On a third-down play,
Duron burst through the line and
was penalized for a late hit on the
quarterback.
Duron and Gracia exchanged
words after the play was over.
Then, after the defensive end
walked back to the sideline, Gra-
cia issued two unsportsmanlike-
conduct penalties, disqualifying
Duron. Gracia was picking up his
flag when Duron barreled
toward him; in video of the
incident, spectators can be heard
screaming, “No, no.”Duron rammed Gracia to the
turf before he was restrained by
teammate Anthony Cardona.
Gracia, a 27-year referee, was
evaluated for concussion symp-
toms and a shoulder injury in an
on-site ambulance, according to
the Monitor. He eventually
walked off the field and did not
return to the game.
Duron was escorted from the
stadium by police officers. He
was charged the following day
with misdemeanor assault and
posted bond.
Duron apologized to team-
mates in their group chat Sun-
day, according to senior safety
Andre Vargas, who said he would
have preferred that the district
penalize Duron rather than the
entire team.
“I don’t think we should be
punished because we didn’t do
anything; we even tried to stop
this,” Vargas said. Duron “is our
teammate, but there’s no way he
could come back. His actions
were inexcusable.”
Vargas said he endured a ham-
string injury in the game but was
intent to recover in time for
Friday’s playoff contest.
“I had colleges looking into my
film,” he said. “They wanted to
see what I can do in a playoff
atmosphere, in a big-game situa-
tion, and I won’t be able to show
them that fully because they took
us out.”
[email protected]One player assaults ref;
entire team is punished
Edinburg, Tex., shocked
and dismayed that act
led to ban from playoffs“I still don’t believe it. I
still feel like I’m going to
play on Friday.”
Oscar Cruz, senior linebacker
for Edinburg High in Texas