Sports Illustrated's Rohan Nadkarni reports that a person familiar with superstar James Harden's thinking described the Rockets' culture as toxic and called them the "Knicks of the South."
Harden has yet to rejoin the Houston Rockets ahead of the 2020-21 NBA season.
On Monday, new Rockets head coach Stephen Silas referred to Harden's absence as a holdout and said there was "no timetable" that he was aware of about when Harden would report.
Harden did not report to the team's first workout on Sunday. The team cited the league's COVID-19 protocols as the reason for his absence.