Throughout the years, no other team as successful as the Philadelphia 76ers — at least when viewed from the standpoint of regular season success — has gone through more drama, both on and off the court. The franchise has seen a handful of eras within the Joel Embiid macro-era, thanks in large part to the revolving door of Robins and sidekicks that the superstar has been paired with.
Currently, the 76ers are led by an abundantly talented, yet flawed nucleus. Between Tyrese Maxey and Paul George, the team has a couple of established stars who should, in theory, be more than capable of leading them to get over the hump, but as everyone knows, that remains constrained in the realm of thoughts and intangibles.
But before the rapid ascent of Maxey into an All-Star caliber player and the arrival of George, Embiid and the 76ers had James Harden calling the shots at point guard and being their resident No. 2 option. The former Most Valuable Player’s stint in Philly, however, was short-lived, spanning just one and a half seasons or 79 games in sum.
Harden’s unceremonious exit can be pointed to one major detail — his infamous fallout with Daryl Morey. The 11-time All-Star initially took a discount to remain with the franchise, but after spending a year, the 76ers front office allegedly did not hand him what he was promised on his next contract.
Joel Embiid’s huge revelation is telling of the current perception of the 76ers front office
Thanks to Harden’s public trade requests, the 76ers were cudgeled into shipping him elsewhere, eventually dealing him to the LA Clippers. But according to Embiid himself, Harden did not just get his wish granted, but he also burned some bridges along the way.
In a recent extensive interview with ESPN’s Dotun Akintoye, Embiid bared that he never wanted Harden to be traded out of Philly, and that one result of such movement was that Harden stopped talking to him entirely.
”No one knows this, but even James [Harden] is not talking to me. 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.
It hurts when you feel like you haven't done anything wrong," he continued. "When you think you have a relationship like that with somebody ... you lose a lot.”
We would never know if Embiid had a hand in Harden wanting out, but what is of public knowledge si the fact that Harden felt blindsided by Morey — who was with him since his Houston days — who apparently reneged from their handshake deal which prompted him to take a discounted contract in the first place.
If anything, one can make the inference that the 76ers front office is not exactly one teeming with glowing reviews at the moment. Sure, the team managed to lure in an All-Star free agent in George since the incident, but it must be remembered that George going to Philly was also a matter of him not really having a choice anyway.
From this spill, the Philadelphia 76ers front office has a long way to go to rebuild its image. Hopefully, they get the necessary opportunity to mend things, lest they risk being deemed a red flag when it comes to player deals and whatnot.