Shaq goes after James Harden's farewell speech to Houston

So I have been a bit tough of James Harden as of late because just like any time that a multi-millionaire sports star starts to act like a victim or a prima-donna I am going to be critical of them, and I feel that we should be.

James Harden started voicing his displeasure with the Houston Rockets, using every opportunity to bash the team, his fellow players, the coaches and the ownership who was paying him nearly $42 million a year (more than LeBron James is paid, by the way.) This sort of attitude didn't go unnoticed by the fans and even fans of basketball in general, who have started to see Harden as a bit of a whiney little millionaire bitchboy every time he would talk.

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There is no denying the man's talent, but basketball is a team sport and when your star player is constantly complaining about his situation it doesn't do a great deal for team morale. Harden, who is being paid as much as the rest of the people on the court with him combined at any given time, sometimes even including the other team was a stick in the mud starting about mid-way through last season and he started out this season even worse.

He turned up late for training camp, he violated the wellness policy by going to large gatherings and wasn't even covert about it as he is not even trying to hide from the cameras that people were using at said parties. It was almost as though he wanted to get caught, and he wanted to be reprimanded or even released by Houston for violation of contract.

It wasn't until a few days ago that his antics finally got him the trade that he had been pushing for all this time. He is going to Brooklyn and just before he left Houston he made a conciliatory statement to the Houston fans that sounded about as genuine as Alec Baldwin apologizing for swearing at children in public.

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The above video of him throwing a temper tantrum on a hand-sanitizer stand as he exited the court alone basically sums up his attitude of the past 14 months or so and it hasn't gone unnoticed.

Shaquille O'Neal had a jab at Harden on TNT last night in response to Harden claiming that "I gave it all I had at Houston" by stating "He didn't do nothin. He didn’t step up when he was supposed to step up."

Shaq went on to state that Harden's complaining was getting on the nerves of everyone and that "everyone" includes other greats in the game, past and present. Shaq finished by stating about his transfer to Brooklyn that Harden has been pushing for for a long time: “He got his little super team,” O’Neal said. “He gotta win this year. If he don’t win this year, it’s a bust. Period.”

I agree with Shaq. The Nets have basically gone "all in" on James Harden and if this doesn't pan out just perfectly this decision could have massive negative ramifications for the Nets for many years.

Despite how I feel about Harden, I want him to do well in Brooklyn and it will be fun to watch even though I admit, I will likely be cheering for most of the other teams they play. I have no patience for crybaby millionaires and right now, Harden is number on in the world in that category.