James Harden promised that he would never play for a team run by Daryl Morey, the president of the 76ers.
They discovered that Harden might keep his word when the angry guard skipped all of Philadelphia’s preseason games because he wanted to be traded. Harden wasn’t at practice this week with the Sixers because he was officially away for a personal issue. The three-time NBA scoring champion wasn’t at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday night for the last game against Atlanta.
It was still possible to buy Harden’s No. 1 jersey at team shops for $139.
They will play their first game of the season on Thursday against Milwaukee. This is their last game before their home start on October 29 against Portland. Nick Nurse, who is in his first season as a coach after five years with Toronto, is getting ready for games without Harden.
“I think I’ve been preparing for it all this week, for sure,” Nurse said Friday. “Lots of thought has gone into him not playing and preparing the team that way this summer. I keep saying there is another plan if something changes. I don’t think it’s affected us very much at all. We’ve just gone out and played, and we’re going to have to go out and play the way we’re trying to play. I think that is without (him) until something changes.”
Harden and the 76ers have been through a lot of trouble before. Harden had a good time in Houston, where he first worked with Morey, the general manager. He won the scoring titles and the NBA MVP award in 2018. But things got bad between him and Houston in the end, and he ended up moving to Brooklyn in 2021. He made the “Big 3)” with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but it was never very big. The three of them had a lot of injuries and other problems, like Irving’s stand on the COVID-19 vaccine, and they only played 18 games together before Harden quit.
That’s why he went to Philadelphia at the trade deadline in 2022. There, he met Morey again and seemed to enjoy his role as a playmaker while Joel Embiid led the attack. Harden even turned down his $47.4 million option in June 2022, telling the 76ers he wanted to give them time to improve their team and make a run at the title. He agreed to a deal worth a little more than $68 million, which paid him about $33 million last season and gave him the chance to make an extra $35 million this season.
This meant the Sixers could sign P.J. Tucker with the full mid-level exception and Danuel House with the bi-annual exception. This was possible because Harden turned down his option. They are both still with the Sixers.
This is where things get tricky. Part of Harden’s anger comes from the thought that he should have gotten a long-term deal with the Sixers after last season. This is why the trade was made: it never came. Harden could have turned down the offer and tried to get a job elsewhere for free. The player “The Beard” chose to stay with the 76ers for this season and pay their $35.6 million option. He did this so that he could force a move. Harden wanted to be traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, but talks with them and other teams failed.
At an advertising event in China in August, Harden got angry with Morey.
“Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of,” Harden said at the event. “Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization he’s a part of.”
Harden got a $100,000 fine from the NBA for what he said. As part of its probe, the league talked to Harden and confirmed that he said he thought the 76ers would not trade him.
Harden eventually arrived late to training camp and practiced with the 76ers at their New Jersey complex. He did this in part to avoid breaking parts of his contract that could affect his ability to become a free agent under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and to show that he’s ready to play if he gets traded to the Clippers. He said later that he didn’t trust Morey anymore.
“I wanted to be here and retire a Sixer, and the front office didn’t have that in their plans,” Harden said last week. “It’s literally out of my control. It’s something I didn’t want to happen to be in this position.”
The Nurse said practicing with Harden there this summer wasn’t a waste of time because “it’s cool.”
Now Nurse, Morey, Embiid, and the rest of the Sixers are going to have to play through a season that depends on how the Harden situation turns out. There will likely be more drama off the court as well.
“There doesn’t feel like there’s a need to address anything,” Nurse said Friday. “Listen, if you’re not fully aware of what’s going on … I think you’re probably asleep a lot or something.”
