NBA star claims LeBron James, Dwyane Wade were scared of his team

As the Miami Heat were capitivating the NBA world with their assemblage of a star trio, there was one squad in the West that most believed could challenge Miami over time.

That was the Oklahoma City Thunder, who had moved from Seattle with top-3-in-the-draft talents Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and had added a rising Sixth Man of the Year in James Harden.

When the Thunder reached the NBA Finals in 2012, it was supposed to be first of many. So it didn't seem catastrophic when LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade won that series, 4-1, for their first championship together. The Thunder would be back, and Harden -- who was shut down by Shane Battier in that series -- would be better.

But then they made a move that ensured that they wouldn't be. They traded Harden to the Houston Rockets for Kevin Martin (a good but not great player) and spare parts.

In a recent episode of Starting Five on Netflix, Durant and Harden reflected on the move, which was a result of a contract dispute in which the sides were separated by only a few million dollars.

Some new reactions on the 2012 Harden trade

Kevin Durant: “I know Bron and them was so fucking happy that we wasn’t together no more cuz we was on their ass.”

James Harden: “Overall, I was mad as hell too.”
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— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 16, 2025

Durant took note of Wade and James and other players congratulating Harden on getting his own team to lead in Houston, something Harden didn't really want. Durant believes the congratulations came from fear, and that the Heat stars in particular were "so f---- happy" ... "cuz we were on their a--."

James, who was on the first season of Starting Five last year, has yet to respond. At the time, he did predict to Miami reporters that Harden would blossom out of the shadows of Durant and Westbrook.

But it's not clear that the Thunder would have reached the Heat's level, or even gotten back to the NBA Finals in 2012-13. The Heat won 66 games that season, including a 27-game winning streak, with James as the MVP. And in the NBA Finals, they were pushed to the brink by a strong San Antonio Spurs squad, needing Ray Allen's clutch shot just to reach Game 7.

So we will never know if Durant was right, that the Thunder were primed to break through. But they did get a chance in 2012, and couldn't cash in.

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