The James Harden era in Philadelphia is officially over, as anyone with Woj notifications turned on learned around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning.
So with Harden on his way to the Los Angeles Clippers and a not-so-insignificant haul heading back to Philadelphia, there’s really only one question left to answer before we can put this saga to bed: What on Earth is Sixers GM Daryl Morey supposed to do with the portrait of James Harden he commissioned for his home?
Yes, that is a real, factual sentence you just read.
Tim MacMahon mentioned the painting earlier this summer (via ESPN):
“To my knowledge, Daryl Morey has never owned a single Ben Simmons t-shirt. I know for a fact, I have seen the man wear multiple James Harden t-shirts. I cannot confirm this because I’ve never been invited to Daryl Morey’s home. But I’ve heard this is a beautiful commissioned portrait of James Harden hanging prominently in the Morey home. So this is a little bit of a different situation…That’s part of the shock that it’s gotten to this point. You never thought Morey and Harden would have this kind of breakup.”
For The Win was, in fact, able to confirm the existence of the piece. You can find it on Morey’s Instagram.
The artist of the portrait is Filip Peraić, whose project James Harden Illustrated yielded some beautiful work. His original thread on Twitter, introducing the portraits, was favorited by Morey.
It’s a legitimately gorgeous piece of art that now has absolutely zero place in Morey’s home after his relationship with Harden came to sour end.
Maybe Morey auctions it off for charity? Maybe he sends it to Clippers GM Trent Redden as a gesture of goodwill? Maybe he burns it? Or maybe he turns it into a shrine in hopes that one day the two will reconcile.
The options are endless. Except for Morey just leaving it up in his living room or office. That would just be downright bizarre at this point.
