Last week, the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired star guard James Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers. The Cavs will be the sixth team Harden will play for, which has many questioning his loyalty. Harden, however, doesn’t care too much for the word.
James Harden Thinks Loyalty Is Overrated
Harden is having another fantastic season, averaging 25.0 points, 8.2 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game, which is why the Cavaliers decided to pull the trigger, sending guard Darius Garland and a second pick back to the Clippers in exchange for Harden.
Harden began his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder and has since played for the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Clippers, and now the Cavs. He was asked about loyalty and switching teams so often, and he made his thoughts on that very clear.
“The whole quote-unquote loyalty thing, I think it’s overrated,” Harden told reporters. “This is a business at the end of the day. It’s a lot of money involved and a lot of decisions that have to be made.”
James Harden says loyalty is overrated.
“The whole quote-unquote loyalty thing, I think it’s overrated. This is a business at the end of the day.” 👀
(🎥 @LeahDohertyTV )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 12, 2026
To Harden’s point, players are dealt with all of the time, and you don’t hear a whole lot of talk about loyalty within a team’s front office because it’s their job to put the best product on the floor. Harden explained that the same standard should apply to players who are unhappy.
“If a player isn’t producing or you don’t see him in the future or you know, front office has to do their job and want to keep their job and they want to do what’s best and keep their job, they trade players,” Harden explained.
He added, “Or if a guy isn’t happy and he wants to be traded somewhere else and it’s a problem, there’s just so many different dynamics that go into it; this is a business at the end of the day.”
READ MORE: James Harden Makes Feelings Clear on His Chemistry With Cavaliers Co-Star Donovan Mitchell
Harden even compared his situation to that of people with ‘normal’ jobs. “Not even just NBA, people that have normal jobs have those same problems, it’s just not magnified,” he said.
Harden continued to explain and defend his own decision.
He concluded, “For me, it’s also about trying to compete for a championship and then financially making sure my family is taken care of. I’m very smart, and I’ve sacrified a lot. Finanically, I don’t get credit, it doesn’t get talked about, but I’m fulfilled.”
With Harden now in Cleveland in a wide-open Eastern Conference, he certainly has a better path to a ring, and if he is able to lead the Cavaliers to their first championship since 2016, there will be plenty of others thinking loyalty is ‘overrated.’
