 about a very confusing night on a variety of levels. A short time ago, James Harden met with the media and he talked to them and Michael Grady about that. Hey, James, the Kevin situation is confusing for everybody watching. For you out there on the floor, seeing him pulled before the game started, come back, pulled again in the third quarter, what was it like for you out there? That's frustrating, especially, you know, you know, we follow the protocols, we get tested, you know, every single day. So I don't understand the whole thing where he couldn't play and then he came on the court and then they took him back. It's just a lot going on, it's too much going on. It's kind of overwhelming, you know, especially when we're in the midst of a tough game and like these games are gonna add up, especially if we're talking about playoff seeding, we're talking about, you know, positioning ourselves and to, you know, home court advantage and whatnot and catching rhythm and all that. You know, so I feel like, I don't know, I don't know. It's just, it's overwhelming, it's frustrating, yeah. Have you had an opportunity to message him or see where his head is at before he gets it? He feels the same way, you know, especially, you know, him already having it and, you know, we get tested, like I said, every single day, you know. So, and I mean, he's been negative, you know, so I don't understand what the problem is. If that was the case, the game should have been postponed. I feel like if, you know, we're talking about contract, contact tracing, he was around all of us, you know, so I don't understand why he was, wasn't allowed to play and then was able to play and then took back off the court. If that was the case, we should have just postponed the game. That's how I feel. But through the midst of it, it was tough, give Toronto credit, they made shots, they played well, but it was frustrating. Blake Andrews, ESPN. Hey, James, in the midst of sort of all that frustration, did you find it hard to sort of refocus? Did you kind of question going on in your head, like, hey, what's going on? I want to pay attention to that? Or what was kind of the balance there of trying to be like, oh, we still have a game to play? No, we definitely have a game to play, but now we're bringing in a huddle and coaches drawing up the first play of the game and, you know, we're like, where's Kevin? And Kevin can't play. It was like, all right, cool, whatever. All right, so then we were starting to game up and then Kevin was able to play. It's like, all right, let's go. Then Kevin can't play again. It's like, all right, come on, what are we doing? You know, so it was just, you know, we try to focus on the game, try to focus on possession by possession, try to, you know, get a rhythm because we started off slow. We know we're not here to make excuses, but it was just, it's a lot, you know, it's a lot. Thank you. Alex Schiffer, the athletic. James, kind of going off your last comment. Did you ask at all during the game the coaches or anything what was going on with Kevin or because it was, because you did have a game to play, you just kind of go in with the flow with all that and when he was around, he was around and when he wasn't, you ask questions later. Of course I asked what was going on. And they said, you know, they just said contact tracing. And I'm thinking to myself, what was contact tracing? Then we were all in the locker room together. That means there's no game, you know, if he's not going to be able to play. So, you know, that's what, that was my thought process. And, you know, once he, once we started the game, I kind of forgot about it. And then Kevin enters the game, I'm like, well, I don't know, it must have been a confusion or some mess up or something, you know. So we kind of like, you know, we caught a rhythm. We came back, started playing well, and then he can't come back on the floor. Oh no, it was a lot. Like I said, it was overwhelming. We're not taking anything away from Toronto. They played an exceptional game. They made shops when they counted. They played, you know, scrappy basketball, like we knew they were going to do. For us, we just couldn't catch a rhythm, you know. And when we finally did in that second quarter, we played, we started playing well, and then we just got kind of stagnant again in that second half. So, yeah. Christian Winfield, New York Daily News. Hey, James, does a night like tonight kind of make you look at the idea of an all-star game or all-star weekend or whatever, any differently? I mean, a lot of guys have been voicing different opinions. I wonder where you stand on the subject. I mean, I haven't said anything publicly, but I feel the same way as some of the players for us, like, you know, there's so much going on as far as we're trying to calm the virus down. And, you know, we're putting on an event, you know. I don't know, I mean, I know what the reasoning is for it, but, you know, I feel like, especially with a condensed schedule, and it feels like everything was forced upon players. It's already draining. We playing a lot of games in a week. I feel like that was a week for us to kind of relax, be with our families and kind of take a step back away from basketball, you know, so, like I said, we're just in it.