What did James Harden say about his current situation with the Philadelphia 76ers?
Though he’s currently practicing with the team, there’s no telling whether the former MVP will remain in Philly after a open feud with its front office.
It’s been a wild ride in Philadelphia ever since James Harden opted to exercise his final-year option and then proceeded to request a trade. In that time we’ve seen him start an all-out war with the franchise’s president, Daryl Morey, and more recently watch as a possible move to the Los Angeles Clippers fell apart. Now, here we are.
James Harden brings us up to speed on where he’s at
As mentioned before, James Harden is now back with the Philadelphia 76ers and seemingly doing the same as his teammates, which is to say preparing for the upcoming 2023-24 NBA regular season that starts later this month. Yet, it would be a mistake to believe that his presence means everything is right as rain once again. Indeed, as mentioned before Harden and Morey are not friends and to that end, the 33-year-old reiterated his stance on Friday as he compared their relationship to a marriage where trust has been broken.
When asked if he thought the relationship could be repaired, Harden answered with a frank and simple “No.” The former Brooklyn Nets star then went on to indicate that it was not so much about Morey as it was about the general concept of broken trust. “It’s not even [specific] to this situation, this is life,” he said. “When you lose trust in someone, it’s like a marriage. When you lose trust in someone, it’s like...” At that point, Harden took a moment and proceeded to shake his head. “You know, it’s pretty simple.”
What can we assume about James Harden & the 76ers?
Well, here’s the thing, Harden actually reiterated his desire to retire as a member of the 76ers, but also claimed that the franchise felt differently. “This is definitely a difficult time,” Harden said. “But for me, it’s just trusting the people that you’ve known over a decade. When I got traded [to Philadelphia], my whole thing was, I wanted to retire [as] a Sixer. ...I wanted to be here and retire a Sixer. And the front office didn’t have that in their future plans. What’s curious here is that Morey has continued to deny that the franchise doesn’t want Harden. Yet, with the Sixers having backed out on the Clippers’ trade package due to the idea that it simply wasn’t enough, we have to imagine that for the right price, they’d move on.
“...It’s literally out of my control,” Harden continued. “It’s something that I didn’t want to happen, being in this position. But I’ve got to make a decision for my family. This is a business. It’s just as simple as that. I come here today, and I work my butt off, and do the things necessary as a professional as I would do and as I’ve been doing for 15 years.” Again, while we can take Harden at face value, there’s some context to be aware of. For starters, this isn’t the first time that Harden has tried to force his way out of a team. Then there’s the fact that for all intents and purposes, he is not the player he once was i.e., the massive deal he wants the Sixers to give him is unrealistic, and so too is the idea of him getting it elsewhere. At that point, one has to ask whether everything is as he sees it, or is it more a case of him simply trying to put the responsibility on Morey and Co., because they wouldn’t give him what he wants?
Okay, so what next for James Harden & the 76ers?
To be honest, as much as Harden is currently with the Sixers and has indicated that he intends to play for the team this season, it’s clear that the relationship is not going to change. With that in mind, we can expect to see at the very least talk of a trade in the near future. In fact, some reports have even indicated that negotiations with the Clippers are now back on, but it’s hard to see what could have changed in LA given that the franchise’s original stance, was that Morey’s valuation of Harden was one it wasn’t willing to meet. Ultimately, it looks to us like James Harden is trying to force a contract out of the Sixers and they aren’t willing to budge, which led to his trade request in the first place. Could it be that the tactic he used with the Rockets and Nets has finally met its match? Keep an eye on this story as that question is likely to be answered very soon.