The Philadelphia 76ers faithful certainly do not have fond memories of James Harden, given the way things went down between him and the front office more than a couple of years ago. Now, the former Most Valuable Player is playing for the Cavaliers, which recently inked him to a three-year, $97 million deal, to stay with the franchise. That is a just price for him at this point, but his regretful take about the similar sacrifice he made when he was still in Philly cannot be any more hypocritical.
Harden recently went at length to discuss the sacrifices he took in order to win a championship after leaving the Rockets, noting that he sacrificed money and individual accolades by taking a more secondary role in Brooklyn, then Philadelphia, was not worth it. Naturally, that will raise a lot of eyebrows among 76ers fans, especially since the All-Star guard himself is a primary catalyst for why the team could not get over the hump.
James Harden dishes out his most hypocritical take yet about the 76ers
Harden's well-documented strife with then-team president Daryl Morey over his supposed contract extension will probably come foremost in the minds of many, but that is actually only the culmination of his own independent failures when he was still with the 76ers.
Philly's core of Harden, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey was more than good enough to make a deep playoff run, and the basketball gods seem to be smiling at them in that regard. Harden himself had his own share of heroics during the 2023 postseason, but when it mattered the most, he simply failed the test in grandiose fashion.
Remember when he combined for 22 points on two closeout games against the Celtics in their 2023 Eastern Conference Semifinals affair? That is perhaps the best on-court example of why Harden cannot pull the victim card. Sure, he made some sacrifices to accommodate an MVP candidate in Embiid and a rising star in Maxey, but the 76ers trusted him all the way. The reality is he could not get the job done.
Eventually, Harden balked at Morey and the 76ers front office for allegedly lying to him over his budding contract extension at that time. He the forced his way out of the franchise, and since then, he has had zero success with his teams and individually.
At some point, when an issue is recurring, the person common to every singhle instance has to be the subject of blame, right? Well, someone should definitely tell that to James Harden.
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