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NBA: 'Excited' Harden seeks title shot with Clippers

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Agence France-Presse

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style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"> </div></div><div style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CzHUfT8PSvD/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by James Harden (@jamesharden)</a></div></div></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>LOS ANGELES, United States - James Harden joined the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, far later than he wanted but still excited for the chance to win an NBA title with his long-suffering hometown club.</p><p>The 34-year-old superstar guard, who was traded from the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this week, said he plans to make his Clippers debut on Monday when they play at New York.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m happy I&#x27;m here,&quot; Harden said. &quot;I&#x27;m excited to show how good individually and how good this team can be and is going to be.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/10/31/23/nba-76ers-trade-james-harden-to-clippers-report">NBA: 76ers trade James Harden to Clippers -- report</a></li></ul><p>Harden, who said his role with the Sixers was &quot;like being on a leash,&quot; called himself a &quot;creator&quot; on the court who was ready to change and adapt his game to make the Clippers into champions.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m not a system player,&quot; Harden declared. &quot;I am a system.&quot;</p><p>Harden, a 10-time All-Star, has been many things as he prepares to start his 15th NBA campaign. He won the 2018 NBA Most Valuable Player award. He was a three-time scoring champion from 2018-2020 and led the NBA in assists in 2017 and last year.</p><p>But he has never won an NBA title. Neither have two of his new star teammates, pal-since-youth Russell Westbrook and Paul George, although Kawhi Leonard has won crowns with San Antonio and Toronto.</p><p>&quot;I think all of us are on the same page,&quot; Harden said. &quot;All those individual stats are past us. Now we&#x27;ve all got one goal and I think everybody knows what that is.</p><p>&quot;For me, it&#x27;s going out here and finding the best way that I can contribute to this team.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m very elite as an individual and I can fit in with anybody and make a championship run work.&quot;</p><p>The Clippers, a former NBA laughingstock, have never reached a conference final since the club was founded in Buffalo in the 1970-71 campaign.</p><p>But they have made the playoffs in 10 of the past 12 seasons and they have revived Harden&#x27;s spirits after tough years with Brooklyn and the 76ers.</p><p>&quot;Want to make my 15th year something special,&quot; Harden said. &quot;Having an opportunity to be back here, where my entire family is, is even more special. I&#x27;m definitely excited.&quot;</p><p>He recalled looking up to Clippers players as a youth with Westbrook.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;ve got a goal we&#x27;re trying to accomplish,&quot; Harden said. &quot;What better way to do it than together and in LA?&quot;</p><div><strong>&#x27;I can facilitate&#x27;</strong></div><p>Harden is ready to take whatever role is needed alongside a squad formidable as defenders and potent as scorers.</p><p>&quot;I can score the basketball but I&#x27;m a very good passer as well. I can facilitate,&quot; Harden said. &quot;Whatever the team and coaching staff needs me to do, I&#x27;ve been preparing.</p><p>&quot;As long as we win the game and everybody is feeling confident and good about themselves, that&#x27;s all that really matters.&quot;</p><p>Harden, who won 2012 London Olympic gold, reached the NBA Finals with Oklahoma City in 2012 but lost to LeBron James-led Miami and was then traded to Houston, where he became a superstar with the Rockets.</p><p>He was traded to Brooklyn in January 2021 and expectations were high with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as teammates, but the combination never worked and after a &quot;funky situation&quot; he was traded to the 76ers in February 2022, saying he thought he would retire with the Sixers.</p><p>&quot;The front office had other plans,&quot; Harden said. &quot;They didn&#x27;t want me. It was that simple.&quot;</p><p>Harden&#x27;s unhappiness led to an off-season of complaints and harsh criticism about 76ers basketball operations boss Daryl Morey but eventually he got the trade he sought.</p><p>Now he said he&#x27;s wiser about things that are out of his control, like injuries and front office issues, but he likes his chances for a title in a Clippers uniform.</p><p>&quot;If you&#x27;re just talking about strictly basketball, then we definitely have an opportunity,&quot; he said.</p><p>js/bb</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

James Harden joined the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, far later than he wanted.