Disappointing Sixers Storylines After New James Harden Rumor

If this is only the beginning, then the Philadelphia 76ers are in for a tumultuous few weeks before the start of training camp. James Harden wants out and he’s not intent on going gently into that good night.

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne recently reported that Harden is going “to make life very uncomfortable” for the franchise if they don’t trade him. He’s already started that process by calling Sixers president Daryl Morey a “liar.” Then, Adrian Wojnarowski dumped more gas on the fire: “I think ultimately, the leverage for James Harden is to create an environment that Joel Embiid doesn’t want to be a part of.”

This has all the makings of a Christopher Nolan movie. No happy endings or silver linings, only regret and despair as the world burns and the villain has the last laugh. Bottom line, Harden opted into his $35.6 million player option for the 2023-24 season on June 29. The future Hall of Famer could have opted out and entered free agency if he felt that strongly about leaving. He didn’t. Now the two sides are embattled in a bitter divorce, one that may one day make Johnny Depp and Amber Heard look normal.

To recap what set everything in motion, let’s revisit Harden’s incendiary comments from China when he put Morey on blast during a tour for Adidas. He was responding to a report that the Sixers were no longer trying to trade him.

“Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be part of an organization 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 organization that he’s a part of in the NBA.”

So, where does everyone go from here? What could Harden possibly do to make life that much more uncomfortable for the Sixers? We got a few ideas and off-the-wall scenarios …

Harden could borrow a page from Ben Simmons’ school of passive aggressiveness by milking a lingering injury — remember, he missed significant time last season after suffering a tendon strain in his right foot — or he could create an entirely new ailment. Simmons cited a back injury, as well as mental health issues, as the main reasons why he couldn’t attend training camp in 2021 until he finally reported to practice ahead of the season opener. Former coach Doc Rivers famously asked him to leave when Simmons refused to participate in team drills.

There are major differences between this situation and that one. For starters, Simmons wasn’t willing to see the Sixers team doctors to discuss his mental readiness. They were already treating the back injury and had cleared him to participate in basketball activities. Again, Simmons refused and the Sixers ended up fining him nearly $20 million during his self-imposed holdout. 

The other major difference between Harden and Simmons is attitude. All the dirt about Simmons’ unhappiness was leaked from anonymous sources. He never uttered a word. Meanwhile, Harden literally spoke ill of the Sixers’ organization during a very public appearance, spewing non-cryptic venom into a microphone (twice), and did so with a wry smile on his face.

Don’t be surprised if Harden shows up on the injury report to start training camp. He could point to that foot injury or claim a re-aggravation of a Grade 2 hamstring injury that bothered him for the better part of two seasons. He’ll have options if he truly wants to make things uncomfortable, perhaps he even alluded to using the hamstring injury as a possible career-ender last July.

“It feels like I had a perfect career,” Harden told The Associated Press. “I didn’t have any serious injuries, but that (hamstring) right there slowed me down to where all right, you got to start thinking about other things than basketball.”

One of the byproducts of the Simmons’ drama in Philly was a tweak to the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) as it pertains to players violating the terms of their contracts. Whether Harden wants to play for the Sixers next season is kind of irrelevant. He opted into his contract for the 2023-24 season and forego free agency. The new CBA went into effect on July 1, 2023, and it contains pretty specific language about how players must conduct business.

Harden, in accordance with the CBA, is not permitted to do anything that is “materially detrimental or materially prejudicial to the best interests” of the NBA or the Sixers. Commissioner Adam Silver explained the rule in this manner (via The Associated Press):

“When we have a standard for conduct detrimental, at the end of the day, it’s one based on what we see as the values of this league and what our expectations from our players in terms of the image we’re portraying to our fans,” Silver said. “So, it’s not a legal standard. It’s a private organization standard.”

Strict enforcement of potential holdouts is also covered under Article XI (Section 3) which clearly states that any player withholding his services for more than 30 days after the start of the last season covered by his contract shall be deemed in violation. Here is how the clause is officially worded:

"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 agrees otherwise. Next: Poisoning Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey"

Here is something that no one wants to see happen. This would be far worse than showing up to training camp injured or out of shape. Harden could poison the locker room, chirping in Joel Embiid’s ear about how the franchise is stuck in limbo and he’ll never get out of the second round while wearing a Sixers’ uniform. Some of that appears to be happening already.

Worse yet, Harden could pull Tyrese Maxey aside and start sowing the seeds of discontent. The 22-year-old combo guard adores Harden and considers him a mentor. The Sixers might be in a position to make him the face of the franchise at some point in the near future. They cannot, under any circumstances, allow Harden to sour him on his future in Philly.

“I’ve learned a lot from James. He’s been great,” Maxey told Jackson Frank of Uproxx. “He’s been great on and off the court. On the court, for sure, he’s taught me so many different things. He’s taught me to be confident. He’s taught me to be myself … He said he wouldn’t be here to hinder my progress. He’s gonna only be here to help and I think he’s done that, man. He’s kinda taken me under his wing and helped me be successful, even more successful than I was before.”

Maxey has way too genuine of a personality. He is too committed to the community and to the fan base. He would never eat Harden’s poison pill. Probably not. Then again, Maxey has yet to receive financial stability from the Sixers after a report surfaced that they were waiting until 2024 to hand him a contract extension. Maxey is currently eligible for a five-year, $213 million extension. The deadline for an offer sheet is October 23.

The last scenario for how the Harden situation plays out is a tried-and-true method that the one-time MVP has employed in other cities when things weren’t going in the direction he wanted. When he wanted out of Houston back in 2021, Harden showed up to his preseason debut looking out of shape and the internet trolls piled on the hate. He was compared to Santa Claus as rumors started circulating that he skipped the first week of training camp to party in Atlanta. It was no secret he was angling for a trade to Brooklyn where he could team up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Harden, of course, eventually got his wish.

One year later, Harden pulled a similar stunt in Brooklyn and Durant called him out on it which predictably rubbed him the wrong way. Durant confronted Harden about his conditioning, then the wheels really started falling off the bus. Harden pushed back and cited his routine of running the stadium stairs before and after games. He was also recovering from a Grade 2 hamstring strain at the time. Whatever the case, the strategy worked. Harden was sent packing to the Sixers.

“I’m a workaholic so just not being able to put the work in like I normally do was frustrating,” Harden told reporters after the Sixers lost to the Bucks on October 20, 2022. “A lot of people don’t see all the work that I put in, it’s … I’m a workaholic and I love being in the gym and I love the game of basketball, so I’ll continue to do that. For me, it’s not even about the individual. Individual is great but I’ll do whatever it takes for the betterment of the team — all of us need to be playing at a high level and I think that’s part of my job.”

What comes next? Your guess is as good as mine, but I am afraid Ramona Shelbourne is right and this situation is unfortunately just getting started.