James Harden’s former coach and Celtics great Kevin McHale isn’t surprised about standoff with 76ers. What did he say?
The want-away star’s former coach has now stepped into the fray and surprisingly - to some - he didn’t side with the player he once managed, he attacked him.
As the drama continues between James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers, opinion across the league has been divided. That’s to say the outcome of this situation is likely to have far-reaching consequences and everybody knows it.
Kevin McHale has an interesting view on James Harden’s standoff
There are a lot of people who have views on what’s going on between James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers, but few of them know the man personally, and even fewer have worked with him. That, however, is not the case with former Houston Rockets head coach, Kevin McHale, who coached Harden during the pair’s time in Texas. Indeed, McHale offered a different perspective on the ongoing feud between the former MVP and his team, as he indicated that he’s not surprised by the turn of events.
If you’re just joining the party, Harden accepted a pay cut last summer, while publicly expressing that he wanted to give the franchise greater flexibility where roster building was concerned. What we can assume based on multiple reports is that Harden wanted a large contract extension. When that failed to happen, he picked up his player option for a one-year, $35.6 million deal with Philly and then proceeded to request a trade. His preferred destination was the Los Angeles Clippers, but those talks have since fallen apart, which then brought us to his bombshell earlier this week when he declared that general manager, Daryl Morey is a “liar.” Now, back to McHale. As mentioned before, the Boston Celtics legend knows Harden, which makes his stance all the more intriguing. To hear him tell it, he sympathizes with Morey who he believes was between a rock and a hard place i.e., Harden and the ownership of the franchise itself, which presumably didn’t green-light Harden’s extension.
“James wanted a big extension from Philly, and Philly wouldn’t give it to him, and that’s not a Daryl decision,” McHale said. “Daryl’s got a part of that, of course, but that’s an owner decision. So (Harden) was really mad, saying Daryl lied to him, but, you know, maybe they saw Game 7 against the Celtics and said, ‘I’m not interested in that.’ I think Daryl would have probably tried to extend him and keep everything happy. But as far as trading him goes, you know, Daryl gets stubborn. It’s going to be interesting.”
James Harden has been to the rodeo before
Never one to mince words, McHale also spoke of Harden’s work ethic or lack thereof, something he stated that he himself had experienced when working with the 10-time NBA All-Star. Referring to his decision to bench Harden during Game 6 of the 2015 NBA Western Conference semifinals, McHale explained that when Harden arrived at the following year’s camp he was “fat and didn’t feel like playing.” This, of course, comes on the back of an eyebrow-raising clip recently posted on social media by Harden’s agent, Troy Payne, who claimed his client could be MVP this coming season, before speaking about his attention to diet and workrate. You be the judge.
Ultimately, McHale’s take on Harden is just another scene in what’s becoming a proper soap opera. If there is one thing that’s certain at this point, it’s that the 76ers are not going to let Harden go cheaply, and even more so now that they’ve lost some power at the negotiating table. As for Harden himself, what can we say? It’s obvious that he feels betrayed, which by the way could and should be of some concern to the NBA from a transparency point of view. Then there’s his timely expression of love for China which he’s currently touring. Indeed, there has even been the suggestion that he’s considering making a move to the CBA. Whatever the case, it would be safe to assume that Harden has played his last game for the 76ers. The question now is, ‘Who will James Harden play for next?’