P.J. Tucker calls Harden and Paul beef 'fake news,' focused on winning title
Recently, the Houston Rockets have been a hot topic in the news. From the reported beef between Chris Paul and James Harden to the team’s offseason plans, the franchise has been in the headlines for both the good and the bad lately.
Now, PJ Tucker is trying to quell such rumors and instead turn everybody’s attention back toward the team that won 53 games in the regular season.
Beef between Paul and Harden
It had been reported last week that Paul demanded a trade out of Houston, citing the relationship between him and Harden as ‘unsalvageable.’
Speaking to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, Tucker called the reports “fake news.”
“It’s fake,” he said. “Everybody – I argue with Chris and James more than Chris and James argue.”
Instead, Tucker pointed towards the relationship between Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant when they were on the Los Angeles Lakers.
“You don’t think Kobe and Shaq argued?” Tucker said.
The relationship between the two, while tumultuous, was put on the back burner as the Lakers won several championships.
Tucker believes that winning a championship would put their relationship concerns to rest.
“If we win a championship together and we f------ hate each other, then guess what? Who cares? Nobody,” Tucker said. “At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. Winning a championship. Everything else is failure.”
‘It’d be a shame’ if Rockets disband
In order for the team to win that championship, the Rockets may have to break down the roster and add another All-Star. The team is reportedly aggressively pursuing Jimmy Butler and may need to part with some of its core in order to make that happen, including Tucker.
Still, Tucker isn’t ready for the team to break down just yet.
“It’d be a shame for a team to win 65 games [two seasons ago] and 50-something games [last season] in back-to-back seasons to dissipate, but in this business you never know,” Tucker said.
He added, “I would hope from what we’re doing, that we want to win right now. We’ve got a team to win right now...I don’t think there’s anybody right now who can say they’ve got a better roster than us. Nobody – top to bottom, in the NBA.”
As free agency draws near, don’t expect Tucker to get caught in the noise.
“I wasn’t [sweating the recent reports],” Tucker said. “I ain’t talking to nobody, because I know. I live it every day. There’s nobody on our team together more than me and James and Chris, so why would I sweat it?”
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