James Harden No Longer Talks To Joel Embiid After 76ers Stint

James Harden and Joel Embiid were teammates on the Philadelphia 76ers from 2021-22 to 2022-23. Harden requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets in 2021-2022 and was traded to the Sixers in the Ben Simmons deal. 

In the summer of 2023, Harden’s relationship with Philadelphia exec Daryl Morey grew sour, so much so that Harden called Morey a liar and requested a trade from the Sixers. 

Philadelphia traded Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2023-24 season. Embiid, who has played with Simmons, Jimmy Butler, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey but has never reached the conference finals, told ESPN that Harden no longer talks to him. 

“No one knows this, but even James 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.’

“It hurts when you feel like you haven’t done anything wrong When you think you have a relationship like that with somebody … you lose a lot.”

Embiid underwent arthroscopic left knee surgery in April. He hasn’t returned to full on-court basketball activities yet. 

The Sixers signed Embiid to a three-year, $192 million extension in September 2024. Embiid is owed $248.1 million over the next four seasons.

Embiid played in 19 games last season. He averaged 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists while shooting 44.4% from the field, 29.9% from beyond the arc and 88.2% from the free-throw line. 

A Kansas product, Embiid has career averages of 27.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists. He’s made seven All-Star teams, five All-NBA teams and three All-Defensive teams. 

The Sixers drafted Embiid in 2014. Embiid, the 2023 MVP, missed the first two years of his career due to injuries.