This Could Be The END of James Harden's Career

James Harden is REFUSING to play for the 76ers this season, despite opting-IN to the final year of his contract. Let's talk about it.

First things first, apologies for being away for so long. As soon as draft/free agency finished, I was working for Jordan Brand in Paris, after-which I decided to take my first holiday since 2014. Next season I’m going to be working harder than ever so for the sake of my mind, I needed a short break. Unfortunately upon my return, not much was really happening in the NBA so I decided to not fill your inboxes with words you didn’t need to read, but that all changed today.

“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organisation that he’s a part of. Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organisation that he’s a part of.” - James Harden

The Backstory

76ers guard James Harden, this morning announced that he will refuse to play for the Philadelphia 76ers as long as Daryl Morey, the president of basketball operations, is involved with the franchise. This comes after the news that the Sixers were unable to find a trade they felt suitable for the former MVP Harden, who opted-in to his $35.6 million player option, whilst simultaneously asking for a trade to the LA Clippers.

Understandably, unless the Clippers are sending back Paul George or Kawhi Leonard, it wouldn’t make sense for the 76ers to send Harden to LA - seeing as Philly’s franchise cornerstone, Joel Embiid, is the league’s reigning MVP. Joel will be turning 30 this season and is on the books for 3 more seasons, so it’s imperative that he’s challenging for a title every season if they want to retain his services. For a player of Embiid’s calibre, never advancing past the second round of the Playoffs simply isn’t good enough. After the Ben Simmons saga ended, the trio of Embiid-Harden-Maxey looked dangerous, however they once again went crashing out of the post-season at the hands of the world famous Boston Celtics.

So with the Clippers unable to come up with a trade package that the Sixers thought would keep (put) them in contention for the NBA title, they decided to let Harden know he would be staying with the team, to which reports surfaced that Harden wouldn’t turn up to training camp. The Bearded One took this a step further today with his public declaration about the apparent lack-of integrity possessed by Morey who was at the helm of the Rockets for the peak of Harden’s career. The pair were notably close, as soon as Morey arrived in Philly, he traded for Harden who at the time wanted to leave Brooklyn. They were so close in fact, that Morey famously waited on the tarmac at the airport in order to hug James when he got off the plane for the first time as a Sixer. So where did it all go wrong?

C.R.E.A.M - Cash Ruined Everything Around Morey?

Whilst the rhetoric on twitter (yes, we still refer to it as twitter, not “X”) is about James Harden demanding yet another trade (as he did in Houston and Brooklyn) and about him apparently not being worth a max contract at this stage of his career, one theory sheds a more empathetic light on Harden.

Take a look at the contract James is currently on: he made $33million last season, and will make $35million this season (if he decides to show up and play). That’s a lot of money to you or I, but for context, he’s currently the 28th highest paid player in the NBA, making less that his teammate Tobias Harris, former 76er Ben Simmons, Rudy Gobert and other players that the ex-MVP may feel he’s better than.

When he signed his current deal, he took a $15million pay cut in order to accommodate the additions of players such as PJ Tucker to bolster the depth of the 76ers squad. It’s not unreasonable to think that in exchange for taking less money than he could’ve received, Morey promised Harden a max contract extension. It’s now come to light that the 76ers apparently did not only not offer Harden a max extension, but they didn’t offer him an extension at all. Could this be the reason that James now describes Morey as a liar?

Also, to address the point of whether or not you think he’s worth a max contract, Harden averaged 21 points, 6 rebounds and led the NBA with 10.7 assists per game. He won the MVP award 5 years ago and would be capable of carrying more of the scoring load, however he opted to take a back-seat and defer to his co-stars. Harden is well within his rights to feel that he deserves the max, regardless of what you or I think. (You guys know the motto: secure the bag!)

Harden’s Not The First To Do This

Like many of you, I was shocked when I first saw the video of James Harden disrespecting Daryl Morey this morning. I watched it about 10 times to check it wasn’t a deep-fake, or an AI voiceover. Announcing that during a brand press-tour in the middle east was a bold choice. Repeating himself so that no one could misinterpret what he was saying was an even bolder one.

Having said that, a player who won MVP as a Houston Rocket, deciding to publicly feud with team executives, is surprisingly not a new thing. Hakeem Olajuwon might be one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, but back in 1992 this is what he had to say about Rockets executives at the time:

So What Now?

Well now it’s a game of who will fold first. Will this public disrespect of Morey force his hand to trade Harden to anywhere that’ll take him? Would any other executives want him on their team after this public debacle? Will the LA Clippers be able to acquire him at a lower asking price than before? The NBA is drama filled, so I’m excited to see what happens.

In the instance that the 76ers decide not to grant Harden his wish to be traded, and Morey is stubborn enough to keep him in Philly out of spite, then things could get very dangerous for James. Take a look at what the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement says about a player’s refusal to play:

Withholding services: A player who withholds playing services called for by a Player Contract for more than thirty (30) days after the start of the last season covered by his Player Contract shall be deemed not to have “complet[ed] his Player Contract by rendering the playing services called for thereunder.” Accordingly, such a player shall not be a Veteran Free Agent and shall not be entitled to negotiate or sign a Player Contract with any other professional basketball team unless and until the Team for which the player last played expressly agreed otherwise.

If Harden is adamant on not playing for the 76ers, he will not be allowed to play basketball anywhere in the world until Daryl Morey says so. Not even Saudi Arabia would be an option (unless they buy out his contract, I guess? James, get your people to holla at me if you want this to happen!)

Could this mean the end of James Harden’s career? This might be a problem that even his infamous “fat-suit” can’t fix. Who will blink first: Harden or Morey?