This summer, James Harden has asked to be traded by the Philadelphia 76ers, and it has led to him being at odds with the team’s front office.
Stars such as him asking to be traded isn’t exactly an unusual occurrence, but this is the third time he has asked to be traded in the past few years.
It has hurt his reputation among fans, and ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith took him to task, via Legion Hoops.
Stephen A. Smith on James Harden:
“It’s not like you’re a champion making these demands. You have no championships to show for any of your efforts… You got everything you wanted, they gave you everything but a pacifier and a bib.”
(via @ClubShayShay) pic.twitter.com/QOaI2LPLxj
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) September 5, 2023
Harden was once a member of a Houston Rockets team that was always competitive and reached the Western Conference Finals twice within a span of four seasons.
But that team maxed out its potential by 2019, and Harden, per ESPN, insisted that it trade Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook and said he would demand a trade otherwise.
In 2020, Houston traded Westbrook, and shortly afterward, Harden asked to be traded himself after reporting to training camp out of shape.
He was sent to the Brooklyn Nets, where he reunited with Kevin Durant, his former teammate while with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the experiment didn’t work, and about a year later he again asked to be traded.
This summer, after the Sixers were unable to find a deal for him, he called executive Daryl Morey “a liar” and said he “will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”
Harden is still a star-level player, but there is a growing sentiment around the league that he simply isn’t a winning player who can help a team win a ring.
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