The 2023 summer has been a pretty tough one for the Philadelphia 76ers. After not making a lot of headway into building a Championship-ready roster, the franchise has had to bear the brunt of James Harden demanding a trade. Towards the end of June, Harden made headlines after reportedly informing the Philly franchise of opting for his $35,600,000 player option. However, the shooting guard also requested a trade showing his faith in the fairness of the Sixers’ management. However, the 2018 NBA Most Valuable Player’s relationship with the 76ers’ front office has gone south since then, with reports confirming that Harden has called Daryl Morey a ‘liar’. More recently, a Reddit user discovered that the star player even declined to sign a Sixers jersey during his China Tour.
Advertisement
The Sixers had revealed that they would honor Harden’s trade request as long as the deal was justified. However, it’s been almost a month since James had asked to part ways with the Eastern Conference side and there are still no signs of a trade. On the contrary, a few days back, Adrian Wojnarowski disclosed that the 76ers have ended all trade talks surrounding James. Currently, on a China Tour, Harden didn’t mince his words when talking about Morey. Speaking to the Chinese fans, who already have a strong aversion against Morey for his previous comments regarding China, the 33-year-old made his intentions clear about the Philly side’s president.
After Wojnarowski reported that Harden has called Morey a ‘liar’, Kyrie Irving defended his ex-teammate on Twitter. Questioning Wojnarowski’s “disgruntled” comments, Irving lauded his former Brooklyn Nets backcourt pairing for holding Morey accountable.
James Harden refused to sign a Philly jersey in China
As translated by a Reddit user, an article disclosed the recent incidents that unfolded during James Harden’s China Tour. As per the Reddit post, Harden refused to sign a Sixers jersey that was presented to him.
Considering the fact that Chinese superstar Yao Ming was a star for the Houston Rockets, and so was Harden, the Chinese are actually huge fans of the combo guard. Despite the love and support he receives from them, it is shocking that Harden didn’t oblige his fans with a signature. Clearly, the 10-time All-Star wants nothing to do with his current franchise.
The former Sixth Man of the Year took a massive pay cut to help the Philadelphia 76ers create a title-contending roster last year. The franchise must’ve promised him a bigger contract in free agency. However, from what Harden’s actions indicate, the front office might not have held up their end of the bargain, resulting in his outburst.
The Los Angeles Clippers were the frontrunners to acquire Harden
The Los Angeles Clippers and the Houston Rockets were the two teams in talks to acquire James Harden this summer. The Texas side signed guards Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks in free agency. With Harden’s former team clearly out of the race to acquire him, the Los Angeles Clippers were the favorites to add him to the roster.
The Clippers could have had one of the deadliest lineups in history with Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and James Harden on the roster. Unfortunately, the California side just didn’t offer enough assets in exchange for the seven-time All-NBA Player. It’ll be interesting to see how this situation pans out over the next few weeks.
