James Harden and Kevin Durant went on a trip to Greece together this past summer as their friendship blossomed again following the trade that brought back together nearly 10 years after they were split up by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Sources tell Logan Murdock of The Ringer that Harden reassured Durant twice that he'd sign an extension to remain with the Nets long-term.

Durant signed his extension in August, but Harden declared before the season started that he planned to wait for free agency.

After Durant suffered a knee injury in January, communication with Harden broke down. Harden began searching for a new team while the losses mounted as he played without Durant and without Kyrie Irving for home games.

“It wasn’t like it was a disconnect between us as individuals. I felt like we liked each other,” Durant told The Ringer. “But I was focusing on rehab and he was focusing on the team. Naturally, I wasn’t around the group, but I can’t control how everybody feels about their situation. I can do my best and provide what I provide every day. If it helps someone, cool, if it doesn’t, that’s cool too, but I can’t stress myself out wondering how somebody else feels about the situation.”

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux), Adam Mares of DNVR and Locked on Nuggets (@Adam_Mares) and Derek Bodner of The Daily Six newsletter (@DerekBodnerNBA) talk about the dominant seasons for Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.

They discuss what makes each of those centers great, how they have developed over the years, playoff expectations, the evolution of the NBA and much more.

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The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers declined to comment when asked by ESPN whether their teams are fully vaccinated, which could mean some of their players would be ineligible to play in road games in a potential playoff series against the Toronto Raptors.

The Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks each confirmed that their teams are fully vaccinated and won't have any issues.

The Celtics, 76ers, Heat and Bucks are likely to finish in the top-4 in the Eastern Conference and match up with the Raptors. 

The Celtics ruled out four players for Monday's game in Robert Williams, Al Horford, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Sources told ESPN that Williams is vaccinated, while Tatum said on media day that he was vaccinated.

Brown said on media day that the vaccine was a personal choice. 

"I have my own thoughts about it but I respect my teammates' decisions and things like that," Brown said. "I know everybody has their own opinion about it but I think it's a personal choice."

Brown and Horford both entered the NBA's health and safety protocols back in October, and Horford did so again in December.

Ben Simmons has been diagnosed with a herniated disk in his back.

The Brooklyn Nets remain optimistic that Nash will play at some point this season, but time is quickly running out. 

Simmons had an epidural last week to alleviate some pressure in his back.

"He's had this a couple years ago, so he's had [herniated disks] throughout his career at some points," Steve Nash said. "And I guess there was a flare-up. I'm not sure when they recognized it was beyond a back flare-up and a herniated disc or what not, but somewhere along the line there, that was the reason for the epidural."

Nash said last week that Simmons had an MRI on his back so that the organization could figure out what was causing the discomfort.

"I've had the same issues," Nash said. "But they're all really unique and different, so it's really hard for me to kind of share my experiences with it because my back was totally different. You just never know. You never know how it responds. You feel great and turn a corner and the next week or so or it could be a longer-term thing, so we just have to be patient and see how he goes."

Joel Embiid explained why he adopted "The Process" as his nickname in response to the dismissal of Sam Hinkie in 2016.

“I remember I used to get calls about like ‘can you please tell Joel not to mention the process’ name? We’re trying to move on from it,” Embiid recalled on Draymond Green's podcast.

“I got to the league and my second year, (Hinkie) was basically forced out,” Embiid said. “I don’t wanna say names but you know I’m outspoken so I’ll say it: the NBA. I don’t know who, but I think that’s what it was.

“They basically forced him out and I didn’t like it.”

Embiid decided to pay homage to the regime that believed in him dating back to 2014.

“Around that time the league did not like The Process because it was a bunch of losing, they’re saying it was tanking, they were losing on purpose, which in the end no one loses on purpose,” he said. “If you’re not talented enough in the NBA, yeah, you’re gonna freaking lose if you’re playing against more talented players.”

“I knew they didn’t like The Process and then I was like ‘you know what? I’m gonna piss some people off’,” Embiid continued, “so that’s why I started pushing the agenda about you know what? I’m gonna support my mans because he drafted me, coming out of college before I got drafted he believed in me.”

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Seth Partnow of The Athletic (@SethPartnow) discuss the 2021-22 season so far.

They talk about the top of the Eastern Conference, how the West may shake out, rotation/closing five issues and much more.

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Ahead of the Brooklyn Nets' first game against the Philadelphia 76ers since trading James Harden, questions were asked of both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant of the split.

"I thought we were in a good swing, but everybody has their own visions starting off seasons," Irving said. "Everybody has their own visions starting off their careers and ending their careers. If that's what James wanted, then I respect his decision and that's just what it is. I wish him nothing but peace and love. We have a great friendship, but it didn't work out. I wish things could have been communicated better for all of us as men, but hey, no hard feelings here with me or anyone else."

Irving noted he believes Harden owed a clearer explanation to some in the organization, but he holds no hard feelings toward him.

"We're still in the same league," Irving said. "It's not like we're going to see him somewhere different where we're not going to see him again and we're not going to see him in the summertime. It's great for the league to build up things like this, but we have a group in our locker room that we just want to be mature about going into Philly and handling business and then moving on."

Durant said he isn't sure if anything could have been said or done differently to make Harden want to stay with the Nets long term.

"I don't know," Durant said. "When you look at it from his perspective, and you look up and Ky's not playing and then I'm injured, he hasn't won a championship before so he's looking at -- he's 32 years old, I guess, he's looking at himself, wanting to make a decision to get on a team that can kind of get into that contending, being one of the last teams standing.

"So if you look at it from his perspective, you could say it is what it is. You can't really control how somebody feels when they're thinking like that. Hopefully he stays healthy and their team stays healthy, we stay healthy, we have a great year, they have a great year, and we just move on from this."

Ben Simmons and his representatives are expected to soon file a formal grievance against the Philadelphia 76ers in the coming days, sources tell Kyle Neubeck of the Philly Voice. 

The 76ers withheld compensation and issued fines for Simmons while he remained out of the lineup. Simmons cited mental health issues for why he remained away from Philadelphia. 

Simmons plans to attend Thursday's game with the Brooklyn Nets at the 76ers. The Sixers traded Simmons to Brooklyn at the deadline as part of a package for James Harden. 

Ben Simmons is unlikely to play for the Brooklyn Nets in their March 10th game at the Philadelphia 76ers.

Simmons is dealing with a back issue as he ramps up his basketball activity after not playing in a game since last year's playoffs.

Simmons could resume workouts in a game setting late next week and then complete three straight high-intensity workouts before being cleared. Based on that timeline, Simmons is not likely to play until at least March 15th.

Simmons would have just four potential games with both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant before the Play-In Tournament or playoffs. 

The Philadelphia 76ers will release Willie Cauley-Stein from his 10-day contract ahead of its expiration in order to create a roster spot to sign DeAndre Jordan.

Carley-Stein was signed by the 76ers last week to give them depth at backup center.