It is now guaranteed that the once-strong basketball relationship of both James Harden and Daryl Morey is finally broken.
On Monday, during his ongoing Adidas China tour, Harden didn’t hold backfiring his grudges against the Philadelphia 76ers’ top executive whom he called a “liar.” The All-Star guard also went on to declare that he doesn’t want to be affiliated with any franchise that has ties with Morey.
This harsh description from Harden stems from the fact that Morey indeed failed to grant his wishes of great free agency fulfillment this offseason. After taking a pay cut from last year to help the 76ers necessarily retool its roster for a much greater chance to contend, Harden was left betrayed this summer upon expecting that he would be handed a well-deserved new max contract from this financial sacrifice he made.
After opting into his 2023-24 player option worth $35.6MM and eventually filing his demand to get traded, the 76ers tried to facilitate Harden’s intent to get transferred to the L.A. Clippers – his desired landing spot. But after weeks of talks and subsequent failure to meet their demands, they pulled Harden off the trade table in hopes of still working it out for one more run.
But amid this, Harden has remained stubborn as a recent report suggests that he won’t participate in the team’s upcoming campaign and even join them on the September training camp.
It remains to be seen what would be next for both Harden and Morey, but it is indeed clear that the future Hall of Famer is desperate already to carve his way out of the City of Brotherly Love and officially burn his bridge over his former longtime hoops partner.
At the side of Morey, pressure continues to rise as questions now swarming him about how he can finish off this embattled saga that haunted the entire Sixers franchise through the course of this year’s layoff.
