This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Mike Sykes.
Look, before we start, I want to make something clear. When it comes to struggles between players and organizations across sports, I’m almost always going to side with the players. Multi-billion dollar organizations and the suits that run them don’t need our help, plain and simple.
With that being said, James Harden is being completely ridiculous right now.
Obviously, most of you know by now that James Harden has requested a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers. Over the weekend it was reported that the team is denying his trade requests and shutting down trade talks because — and this might surprise you — Philly couldn’t find a good deal for a player who is trying to move to a fourth team in four seasons.
Now Harden is back on the offensive trying to make his way out of Philly. What’s his game plan? To call the GM that has acquiesced to his every need for most of his career a liar.
In the early hours of Monday morning, The Athletic’s Shams Charania shared video of Harden calling Morey out and saying he’ll never play on a team he’s part of again.
Then he repeated it for good measure.
James Harden: “Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of. Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.” pic.twitter.com/AmHJ0WwbF2
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 14, 2023
“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of. Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”
Look, we don’t know exactly what the deal is here. But it’s safe to assume that Harden is not happy with the lack of a long-term contract offer from the 76ers.
We know that he took a pay cut when he re-signed with the 76ers last offseason to improve the team’s financial flexibility. He told us in his own words that the pay cut showed how badly he wanted to win in Philadelphia. Then he spent the rest of the season complaining about his role and flirting with the Houston Rockets and building leverage for the max deal he wanted.
The Rockets deal faded away and Harden was left alone on the ballroom floor without a dance partner. The 76ers didn’t immediately offer him the max deal he wanted and he decides he wants out. But … he opts into his contract? Make it make sense, y’all.
James Harden is being completely unserious. This is a dude who has complained about every situation he’s been in since leaving the Rockets. He’s folded in the playoffs over and over and over again. When the 76ers needed him the most this season, he couldn’t show up. That’s why that robust market that he thought was going to be there just isn’t. And it’s not going to be.
I don’t want this to come off as me defending Daryl Morey. He treats his players like chess pieces instead of like human beings. He’s willing to make situations as uncomfortable as possible just to get the end result he desires, even if it comes at a cost. Just ask Ben Simmons.
If James Harden was illegally promised a hush-hush max deal when he took that pay cut, he certainly did get played by Morey. And you could also understand why Harden would be upset about that. He lost a lot of money doing all of this.
But it’s hard to fault Morey completely given Harden’s body of work in the last few years. Why would you commit to him? He hasn’t committed to anything. He hasn’t made this Philadelphia team any better. That’s just a fact.
Harden can say what he wants here, man. But he has no leverage. He’s under a contract in a deal he opted in on. He’ll be a Philadelphia 76er when next season starts and probably when it ends, too.
That’s his own fault. He needs to get serious and deal with it.
Quick Hits: CJ Okoye might be good at football … Garrett Wilson the GOAT … and more
— CJ Okoye just played his first football game ever in the NFL. And yet, somehow, he already got a sack. Charles Curtis has more.
— Robert Zeglinski caught Garrett Wilson doing some ELITE trolling of Sean Payton on the sideline. This is the best.
— Bryan Kalbrosky has you covered on the highest-rated rookies in NBA 2k over the last decade or so. Yes, Wemby is the best.
— We ranked the NFL’s stadiums from best to worst! Please, get a new stadium soon, Commanders.
Have a great Monday. Be kind to one another.
