Houston Rockets coach Stephen Silas said on Monday there is no timetable as to when James Harden may join his Houston Rockets teammates at training camp.
Harden missed the team’s first scheduled workout on Sunday, which Silas attributed to COVID-19 protocols. However, Harden was seen hitting up Lil Baby’s birthday bash in Atlanta on Thursday and was spotted at Drai’s nightclub in Las Vegas Sunday night.
“There is no timetable, as far as I know,” Silas said after practice, according to ESPN. “It is a setback. You want your best player to be here.”
The league’s COVID-19 protocols require players to quarantine except for team-sanctioned workouts and essential activities, which clearly Haren is not following. Players are also forbidden from attending parties and clubs. For missing the training, Harden could be fined by the league.
It’s no secret that Harden is looking to be traded, preferring to end up on the Brooklyn Nets. The Rockets, however, are in no rush to make a trade. When asked, Silas said he isn’t going to speculate on whatever point it is that Harden is trying to get across.
“I have no clarity about the message, honestly. I take it basically at face value that he’s not here. What the reasoning is, is on him,” Silas said. “He’s the one who can explain why or why not he’s not here.”
“For me to make inferences and think about the possibilities isn’t real to me. What’s real is he’s not here, and he has a reason, but that’s on him to tell whoever what his reason is.”
