The Philadelphia 76ers and James Harden have officially reached a breaking point.
A report by ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne states that Harden is ‘just getting started’ and he’s ready to make life hard in Philadelphia if he doesn’t get traded.
Over the past couple of hours, several NBA players — including some of Harden’s teammates — have shown their support for the former MVP in his crusade against Sixers President Daryl Morey.
However, former NBA coach Sam Mitchell believes Harden is the only one to blame for his situation, as he wouldn’t have been in this spot if he hadn’t had ‘one of the worst postseasons of his career.’
Mitchell told SiriusXM NBA Radio that Harden didn’t give Morey or his agent anything to work with in terms of driving his value up, and he might be right.
"You gotta give me something to fight with"
🏀 @SamMitchellNBA tells @jumpshot8 if James Harden played better, the situation in Philly would be different pic.twitter.com/GypdKXN2fl
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 16, 2023
The likely reason why Harden picked up his player option is because the Houston Rockets didn’t want to pay him as much money as he thought he would get.
He could’ve signed a lesser deal with the Los Angeles Clippers or any other team, as he could’ve been a free agent, and that’s not the Sixers’ fault.
It’s also not the Sixers’ fault that no team is willing to go all-in on him anymore after watching him crumble under pressure in the postseason, struggle to get in shape, and then fail to honor his contracts.
Harden was a great player in his prime and he could still be a major contributor to a winning team, but he’s proven that he’s not the guy that’ll lead you to a championship, and that’s not Morey’s fault.
NEXT: Analyst Says James Harden, Daryl Morey Drama Benefits The NBA
