Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid Reveals Why Los Angeles Clippers’ James Harden No Longer Talks to Him

During an interview with NBA reporter Dotun Akintoye of ESPN, Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid revealed that Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden no longer talks to him.

Embiid and Harden were teammates on the Sixers from 2021-22 to 2022-23.

Harden requested a trade from Philadelphia in the summer of 2023 and was traded to Los Angeles.

“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 NBA 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.”

Harden requested a trade from the Sixers after Daryl Morey didn’t give him an extension. The NBA legend called Morey a liar during his Adidas tour in China in the summer of 2023.

The Sixers went 48-24 in the regular season when Embiid and Harden played. Embiid won the 2023 MVP Award playing alongside Harden, who led the NBA in assists per game in 2022-23.

Harden is expected to spend the rest of his career with the Clippers, who have never reached the NBA Finals.

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. The big man underwent arthroscopic left knee surgery in April and hasn’t returned to full on-court basketball activities yet. 

“We’re not going to push anything,” Embiid said. “For my whole career, I felt like we never took that approach. We don’t have a timeline. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.”