James Harden ‘Privately’ Explains How Daryl Morey, 76ers Lied
James Harden ‘Privately’ Explains How Daryl Morey, 76ers Lied
James Harden made headlines last week when he came out publicly branded Philadelphia 76ers team president, Daryl Morey, a liar.
“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of,” Harden said at an Adidas event in China.
“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.”
Because Harden didn’t expound on that label beyond just saying he wouldn’t play for Morey any longer for that reason, everyone was left to speculate on their own how precisely Morey misled his star guard.
A lot of random theories were ultimately posited, some of which were bolstered by Harden’s own Sixers teammates coming out and publicly supporting him.
This weekend, fresh details emerged regarding why precisely Harden was and continues to be so angry with Morey.
According to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Harden has ‘privately’ expressed to people the real reason he called Morey a liar.
“Harden has privately indicated that his public comments calling Morey a ‘liar’ on Monday morning had only been a response to Morey ending trade discussions,” Wojnarowski reported.
Why is this notable? Well, because the most popular hypothesis for the Harden-Morey rift reasoning was that Philly secretly promised their star some sort of big contract this offseason and then reneged.
It has become such a popular theory, in fact, that the NBA has launched an investigation into the matter.
According to Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press, the league is attempting “to determine whether any promises were made to Harden that would have been in violation of salary cap rules.”
At this point, everyone’s position is clear. The Sixers refuse to trade Harden unless they get their exact demands met.
Harden has one team he wants to go to, but his preferred landing spot is refusing to include two key role players in any potential deal.
Zach Wilson’s mom brought her girlfriends to the Jets game. And we all know how much Zach loves his mom’s girlfriends. https://t.co/ndfPGPMct2
— Game 7 (@game7__) August 20, 2023
Thus, currently all parties involved are locked in a stalemate.
That stalemate has led to a very public and extremely ugly feud between Harden and Morey.
Will the 76ers, Harden and Morey eventually be able to find an arrangement that works for everyone ahead of the 2023-24 NBA season? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
