As the charter flight carried James Harden and three players out of Oklahoma City, out of championship contention, there resonated no nostalgia within him. No hesitation. No regret. For all the insistence that Harden had been devastated over the deal to the Houston Rockets, Cole Aldrich witnessed something else on the private jet whisking them into a Texas sky: a stony, steely resolve.

Before that jet ever touched down in Houston, Harden made a vow to Aldrich: “We’re going to change this city.”

“He’s come in with a chip on his shoulder, and it’s been incredible for us,” one Rockets official said.

via Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports