In case you missed it, former teammates James Harden and Chandler Parsons have been caught up in a war of words over the last 24 hours. It started with Harden’s comments in the Philippine Star (note to James: there’s this thing called the Internet, and people can hear you, even halfway around the world) where he declared that he and Dwight Howard are the cornerstones of the Houston Rockets, and that their remaining teammates “are role players or pieces that complete our team”.
It’s not exactly an inaccurate statement, especially in a star-driven league, and on a team that has two defined stars. However, former Rockets third banana Chandler Parsons took exception to Harden’s comments, and shared his feelings during a radio interview and via a lone cryptic tweet:
Parsons on Harden: “It’s a pretty ridiculous statement, if he meant that. I’m excited to go to DAL. I’m ready for next step, a bigger role.”
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 24, 2014
Parsons: “If anybody should understand it’s James, since he was in same situation in OKC then he got the chance to come to HOU and shine.” — Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 24, 2014
Think before you speak.
— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) July 24, 2014
Want to know what makes athlete beefs approximately 50% more entertaining? When a sibling gets involved! Chandler’s brother, Chris, hopped on Twitter Thursday evening and bashed Harden in a quickly-deleted tweet, before tossing out some numbers comparing Chandler’s third year to Harden’s third, when he was a sixth man on the Oklahoma City Thunder: 
Parsons, 25, averaged 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game to help Houston win 54 games last season, his third year. — Chris Parsons (@CParsons41) July 24, 2014
In Harden’s third NBA season, he averaged 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists as Oklahoma City’s third option behind Kevin Durant
— Chris Parsons (@CParsons41) July 24, 2014
If you thought the Southwest Division was going to take a backseat to the Central in terms of competitiveness, guess again.
[Twitter]
