Playing in Houston unlocked James Harden's game. The Beard went from Sixth Man of the Year in OKC to MVP when he was with the Rockets . His success in Space City was marred by a period when he got involved in a high-profile romance with reality TV star Khloe Kardashian , which distracted him and his team. After ending a brief relationship, the legendary guard talked about why the relationship didn't work out.
"I didn't like all the attention," Harden told Sports Illustrated. "I felt like it was for no reason. I wasn't getting anything out of it except my name out there and my face out there, and I don't need that."
Harden couldn't take the unwanted attention
Then, a rising NBA superstar, Harden met Khloe at Kanye West's basketball-themed birthday party at Staples Center in June 2015. They dated for 8 months before calling it quits in February of the following year.
A lot of factors were blamed for their breakup, including the long-distance and Lamar Odom's drug overdose, which allegedly strained the relationship. However, according to Harden, it was always being in the headlines for no apparent reason that he could not take it.
"It wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't me," Harden added. "I don't need pictures of myself when I'm driving my car. Who cares? What shoes am I wearing? Who cares? Where am I eating? Who cares? It was unnecessary stuff that I think trickled down to my teammates. I had to eliminate that."
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The Kardashian curse
Similarly, former Minnesota Timberwolves first-round pick Rashad McCants suffered the same experience when he was involved with Khloe long before Harden did. McCants went from being a promising player to losing his NBA career because of outside distractions that came with being in a relationship with a Kardashian girl.
"She's a high-profile celebrity, and I was in a small market Minnesota team," said McCants. "So once I made OK Magazine, People Magazine, and Media Takeout, I was getting unwarranted attention that conflicted with teammates, coaches, and GMs that were involved in my life at that time. So that can create a conflict, and it did."
Because the Rockets had their worst regular season (41-41 in 2015-16) in Harden's nine years in Houston when he had his brief romance with Khloe, some said that he could have become the next victim of the Kardashian curse if he didn't break away from her. McCants called the curse a mental thing . However, two seasons after their breakup, Harden won the 2018 MVP award. A year later, he went on that historic scoring run.
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