Houston Rockets rumors 2015: Did James Harden have Kevin McHale fired?

James HardenReuters

The reason behind Kevin McHale's firing has been widely believed to be because of the Houston Rockets failure to do well in the early goings of the 2015–16 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. However, there are some who believe that the Rockets pushed the panic button early.

Aside from that, what could possibly be behind the firing of McHale who had after all led the franchise to the Western Conference Finals for quite a long spell? Could that "players only" meeting held a day before the firing of McHale have had a hand on it?

To date, it remains to be known what transpired that day, but the conclusion is that it tackled McHale. And seeing perhaps the acknowledged star of the team, there doesn't seem to be any other player Rockets management would listen to other than James Harden.

Of course, this is just a hypothesis but if one thinks about it, the sudden firing does sound puzzling.

Harden had been obviously playing with a lot of distractions, tied up with his alleged ties with Khloe Kardashian.

 According to USA Today, he has been aloof and such has been affecting his teammates. Team practices have become futile and summing it all up, McHale has been seemingly losing his grip on the team and hence singled out as the reason behind the dismissal.

The recent events have become a mystery of sorts, especially if one recounts how the Rockets were able to make it to the Western Conference despite manpower problems. So would a new person at the helm (J.B. Bickerstaff) be the right move?

The Rockets did win their first match under him, although it is early to tell if that is a good sign. If Bickerstaff pushes the Rockets to a positive standing, then the move is justified.

If not, something is terribly wrong from within and sadly, Harden is being singled out as a reason.