James Harden Sounds Off on Ex Khloe Kardashian: "I Didn't Like All the Attention"

Houston Rockets player opens up about the spotlight

By Francesca Bacardi Mar 01, 2017 4:02 PMTags

He just didn't want to keep up with the Kardashians.

James Harden and Khloe Kardashian dated for eight months before calling it quits, and now the NBA player is explaining his side of the story. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Harden revealed he didn't like the spotlight that came with dating Khloe.

"I feel like it was for no reason," the Houston Rockets player said of the media frenzy that came with dating Khloe, although he didn't say her name. "I wasn't getting anything out of it except my name out there and my face out there, and I don't need that. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't me."

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Harden couldn't understand why fans wanted to know everything about him. "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," he continued. "I had to eliminate that."

Khloe and Harden broke up in February 2016, and on her former talk show Kocktails With Khloe, the E! star hinted that it was because he was unfaithful.

"I've always said, 'We don't need to be monogamous,'" Khloe said on the show. "'There's a lot of s--t going on in both of our lives. You live in Houston, I live in L.A. Let's just see each other when we see each other.' Why wouldn't you say, 'OK, that's great'? He sought me out, wanted to be committed, then wasn't committed."

She added, "[I] found out he wasn't, and I got the receipts to prove it."

Khloe has since found happiness with Tristan Thompson, with whom she has admitted she loves. They recently took a romantic vacation to Jamaica, where she and the Cleveland Cavaliers player hit local hotspots and went zip-lining. Harden, on the other hand, has been focusing on his basketball game.

"I'm not worried about anything but hooping," Harden said. "And that may be why I'm having this kind of success."