In his first public comments since joining the Philadelphia 76ers last week, James Harden told reporters after Friday’s practice that he still sees no way to repair his relationship with Daryl Morey, while asserting that his plan “is to play basketball. Yes, of course.” ”
“No,” Harden said flatly, when asked directly if he thought things could work out with Morey. “It’s not even about this situation, it’s about life.
“When you lose trust in someone, it’s like a marriage…you lose trust in someone, you know what I mean? It’s pretty simple.”
Harden made a point of never saying Morey’s name Friday, referring to him only as “the front office.”
Harden comparing his relationship with Morey, now Philadelphia’s president of basketball operations, to a marriage is appropriate, given that they have been practically joined at the hip since the defining moment of both their careers, which took place 11 years ago. The following month, Morey brought Harden to the Houston Rockets in a blockbuster trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
From there, Harden became the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2018 and one of its greatest offensive players of this generation and all time, helping the Rockets to multiple playoff appearances, including two losses in the Western Conference final against the Golden. State Warriors. But after reuniting this summer, their relationship broke down after the 76ers lost to the Boston Celtics in seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Harden, who called Morey a “liar” at an event in China in August, said communication between the two sides — after being constant for years — ended when Philadelphia’s playoff run ended.
“Me and the front office had a really, really good relationship for a decade,” Harden said. “There was constant communication, you know what I mean? There was no communication once we lost.”
When a follow-up question was asked whether that meant there was no communication once the Celtics series ended, Harden did not respond.
With no communication, Harden opted to opt into his $35.6 million player option for the 2023-24 season and requested to be traded to the LA Clippers. But so far this request has not been granted.
When asked if he would like to be traded, Harden simply replied: “You have to talk to the front office about it.”
And after missing media day and the team’s first practice at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., last week – a practice Harden said he missed because he was undergoing pre-medical exams season – he joined the team and has been training ever since.
Harden said he feels “really, really good” physically, but that “there’s another level that I feel like I can reach and that I want to reach.” He said he is still developing his body and won’t play in Monday’s preseason game in Brooklyn against the Nets, but could play in the final preseason game next Friday against the Atlanta Hawks .
“I’m going to speed it up and try to play last just to get myself into game situations and get used to the physicality of defenders hitting you and stuff,” Harden said. “The speed, the tempo, all those good things. So I think we have a good plan in place.”
Harden’s comments came more than a week after he returned to the team, participating in several practices but missing the team’s first two preseason games against the Celtics. The NBA usually gives some grace period in these types of situations, but it was reaching the point where it had to end and Harden had to speak to the media about his situation.
His return, coupled with the nature in which he did so, has created a strange situation around the franchise, with everyone involved happy with the way it’s going right now but remaining uncertain about Harden’s plans or what this situation will look like. like day to day – let alone week to week or over a longer period of time.
However, Harden made it clear that his disdain for Morey did not extend to the team’s new head coach, Nick Nurse, who replaced Doc Rivers earlier this offseason. Repeatedly Friday, Harden praised Nurse for his versatility and adaptability as a coach, and he said he’s been impressed by the conversations he’s had with Nurse since taking the job and by the program that Nurse puts in place.
“I think it’s more spacing, more opportunities for everyone and just unpredictable,” Harden said of Nurse’s system, after previously saying he’s a “player’s coach.” and that “he understands”.
“He can change things on the fly, and if things in one, five, six, seven possessions aren’t going well, or in a quarter, he can change them and make adjustments. Which is very difficult to do. But he’s very, very good at it.”
Harden, however, isn’t adjusting his stance on Morey at all. He said that when he was traded to Philadelphia in February 2022, he “wanted to be here, retire a Sixer, and the front office didn’t have that in their plans.”
Now, however, he said he is just focusing on what lies ahead, adding that his plan is to play this season.
“I have to make a decision for my family. It’s a business. It’s as simple as that. I come here today, I work hard and I do the necessary things as a professional, like I would do it and as I have done it. I have been doing it for 15 years.
“Like I said, I can control what I can control. I’m taking it one day at a time and focusing on each day as a new day. My plan is to play basketball, yes, of course. ”
