On Wednesday, Clippers star James Harden made his long-awaited return to Philadelphia — the place where he once called home not long ago. While the Clips came away with the victory, Harden got an earful from the crowd, who sparked an interesting response from James after a chorus of boos all night long.
“I mean, I expected it. I really don't know what it was about but I expected it,” said Harden. “So it is what it is. I don't even know why they were booing. And if you ask them, they probably don't know why they were booing.”
Harden, a 10x All-Star, forced his way out of the 76ers last off-season, when he essentially refused to play until GM Daryl Morey traded him to the Clippers. Even now, Harden claims to have no regrets over how it went down.
“I felt like I did everything I needed to do in the sense of taking myself off the max to help the team get better, for this city,” said Harden. “Things didn't work out, I wanted to get paid, and they weren’t talking so it is what it is.”
Harden lasted for two seasons in Philly, and his short-lived partnership with Embiid was doubted from day one. During his tenure there, Harden failed to live up to expectations, and things turned sour when the Sixers were bounced early in the 2023 playoffs.
Today, Harden is trying to put all of that behind him with the Clippers, but his past comes back to haunt him every time he faces one of his former teams. In the case of the 76ers, the way he left there months ago is still fresh in the minds of everyone who witnessed it.
James Harden Called Daryl Morey A Liar
Before his first game for the 76ers, Harden was already seen as disloyal by the vast majority of fans. Besides the Thunder, which he was traded, Harden left all of his previous teams on bad terms, including the Houston Rockets and, most famously, the Brooklyn Nets.
So when Harden was traded to Philadelphia and reunited with Daryl More, some were hopeful that Philly would become a long-term destination for the beard. While things were good at first, the summer of 2022 saw Harden take a massive pay cut for the sake of the team and he expected to be paid in full the following summer.
Instead, Morey tried to lowball Harden and go back on boa promise of paying him the max. The result was a brutal standoff between Harden and the 76ers GM that lasted for months. At one point, Harden outright accused Morey of being a “lair.”
Daryl did show some resistance at first, but he was forced to trade Harden if he wanted to avoid losing him for nothing in free agency this summer.
In the end, Harden got his way and he’s playing with better odds alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the Clippers. Still, he won’t forget how Morey tried to play him in Philly and the fans will never forgive how he turned his back on the franchise when they were so close to the top.
Only time will tell if James can find redemption and win a title with the Clippers but that’s the only way for him to repair his legacy after sowing so much drama and chaos across multiple different teams.
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