ESPN's Stephen A. Smith: James Harden blew up max deal with Rockets
With James Harden arriving in Colorado for Philadelphia 76ers training camp, the questions about his future in Philly remain murky. Stephen A. Smith added another wrinkle in Harden's current impasse with the team.
On Wednesday's "First Take" on ESPN, Smith said that "a very reliable source" told him that Harden ruined his chances for a long-rumored reunion with the Houston Rockets because he wanted to become the focal point of the offense.
Smith's speculation comes a day after he unloaded on Harden for not showing up to the 76ers media day, calling him a "petulant child" and then some:
While it's always funny for a media personality to preface an insult by saying how much he or she likes the person getting critiqued, Smith is expressing what plenty of people are already thinking about Harden, including one anonymous NBA coach. The 10-time NBA All-Star has forced his way out of teams twice before — first in January 2021 with the Rockets when then-general manager Daryl Morey traded him to the Brooklyn Nets in a massive four-team deal, then with the Nets themselves over a season later when they sent him to the Sixers — reuniting with Morey — for Ben Simmons, among others.
Sixers fans already have had their fill with the Harden situation, and the same can certainly be said for Morey, who has to contend with an even angrier Harden in Philly than he did with Houston. It appears that the Rockets weren't buying what Harden was selling, but perhaps there remains a chance that the Los Angeles Clippers might.
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