It was only two years ago that Joel Embiid and James Harden cemented themselves as the best pick-and-roll duo in the NBA. After an embarrassing 112-88 defeat from the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, their once unbreakable bond was torn to shreds.
In a six-month span, Philadelphia fired Doc Rivers, who didn't have the best relationship with Harden. Then, the 2017-18 Most Valuable Player opted into his $35.6 million player option to demand a trade from the 76ers. His exit from the City of Brotherly Love was far from clean as he and Daryl Morey had a messy fallout. In the summer of 2023, he infamously called Morey a liar during an event in China, which is still talked about to this day.
Now, tensions between Harden and the 76ers have possibly eased up. Recently, Harden appeared in a TikTok with Bleacher Report where he created an all-time starting lineup with his former teammates. Without any prompt, Embiid was the first player Harden listed, which was a shock to many — myself included.
James Harden leads off his all-time teammate starting five with Joel Embiid pic.twitter.com/DThv1N6wiu
— Harrison Grimm (@Harrison_Grimm) August 12, 2025
Many thought Embiid and Harden's relationship was ruined
Harden’s sudden praise towards Embiid is not only surprising because of how things ended in Philadelphia. Last month, Dotun Akintoye of ESPN wrote a brilliant profile on Embiid, which covered the ups and downs of his career. Embiid confirmed something many already suspected in the article. The 2023 Most Valuable Player revealed that he and Harden haven't spoken.
"No one knows this, but even James [Harden] is not talking to me," Embiid said. "That's the part I don't like about being 'that guy,' because it puts you in the middle of those situations. Because if you ask James, he probably believes I had something to do with him not being here. And I'm just like, 'I won the scoring title. You won the assists title. We had a pick-and-roll that was unstoppable.'"
Is Embiid and Harden’s relationship repaired after this TikTok? Probably not. In all likelihood, Harden was simply giving Embiid his flowers because no one can live down his regular-season dominance throughout the past few years. Still, it's tough to gauge a relationship as volatile as this one from the outside looking in.
Nevertheless, we’ve seen instances where a player refuses to give credit where credit is due to a former teammate after a dramatic exit. Most notably, years after Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder, he was put through a similar exercise as Harden. Durant was asked to list his top five teammates he’s ever played with and he left out Russell Westbrook. Harden could’ve gone the same route, but he didn’t. So, maybe that counts for something.