“And That Promise Was Betrayed”: Stephen A. Smith Defends James Harden After Recent Remarks, Asks Daryl Morey the Tough Questions

First Take’s Stephen A. Smith talked in detail about James Harden’s recent comments during his first press conference with the LA Clippers. Harden had fought out with Philadelphia 76ers’ president Daryl Morey and claimed several times that he had been betrayed by the organization. He had searched for a new team throughout the offseason and claimed during the conference that being with the 76ers was like being “leashed.”

A 3-time NBA scoring champion and the 2018 MVP, a resolute Harden had claimed that he was not a “systems player,” but rather a system in itself, and only needed people around him to trust him and be willing to make adjustments. Talking about Harden’s commitment to the claim that he was betrayed by Morey, Stephen A. Smith came out in his defense.

Speaking on First Take, he talked about how Harden was simply trying to make the public acknowledge how he was actually betrayed by Morey.

“He is asking the public to get that, get how you would have felt if you were lied to. You made these sacrifices to make the team better, and a promise was made to you. And that promise was betrayed,” Smith said.

Harden was under the impression that he would eventually be given a long-term contract by the 76ers, especially after he forego a huge contract in order to allow Morey to sign role players last off-season. However, that never happened, leading to the 34-year-old proclaiming that he was betrayed, and would never play for the organization again.

Stephen A. Smith wants to know whether James Harden is telling the truth

Smith talked about the fact that Harden had already proven his credentials in the league a long time back. With him agreeing to take a pay cut, Morey’s treatment of the player has been effectively betrayed, if Harden is telling the truth.

Smith talked about how Morey was still not being asked the right questions.

“I heard a lot of questions for Daryl Morey yesterday. What I didn’t hear was, ‘did you lie? Did you lie to him? Is he telling the truth? That is the question to me,” he said, claiming that Harden has every right to feel betrayed if he was promised the bigger contract.

Of course, his performances on the court surely did not warrant one, from Morey’s point of view. When it comes to his injury troubles and inconsistency, Morey’s alleged U-turn might simply have been due to the lack of structure he saw in Harden’s integration into a talented roster.

While things could certainly have been handled better, it may be that Morey was initially willing to give Harden the contract that he wanted.