James Harden Left ‘Broken’ & Unreachable due to the Miami Heat, Reveals Manager

Getty James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers reacts against the Miami Heat during the second half in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals

In recent years, the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers rivalry has become one of the bigger rivalries in the NBA. The Miami New Times even called the Sixers the Heat’s ‘Most Hated Rival.’ The rivalry certainly intensified when Jimmy Butler left Philadelphia to join the Heat in 2019. This year, the Heat and Sixers faced off in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Philadelphia had a recent acquisition to team up with their star Joel Embiid with their deadline darling James Harden.

Harden demanded a trade from the Brooklyn Nets last season because he wanted to be on a contender and didn’t feel like the Nets would be one. Philadelphia is where he landed and reunited with Darryl Morey, the now President of the 76ers. However, Harden’s title hopes were quickly dashed in their six-game series during the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. An elimination that left Harden “broken,” according to a December 16 report from Fox Sports’ Yaron Weitzman. 

James Harden’ Broken’ by Heat Loss

In his reporting for Fox Sports, Weitzman shares quotes from friends of Harden that shared that after being eliminated, not even Harden’s longtime friend and manager Troy Payne could reach the former MVP. 

“Payne has known Harden for years, so he understood that Harden reacts to year-ending losses by holing up in his Houston home and withdrawing from the world,” Fox Sports’ Yaron Weitzman wrote. “But this … well, this was different.

“‘He was broken,’ one friend of Harden’s said. ‘It was bad. He was really hurting.'”

Heat Series Left Harden’ Drained and Deflated’

During the playoffs, Harden struggled to put on a string of good performances for the Sixers. In five of their six games against the Heat, the All-Star guard was held under 20 points. On the night that the Heat ended Philadelphia’s season, Harden only scored 11 points, which left the future Hall-of-Famer “broken” heading into the offseason, according to the reporting from Weitzman. 

“Another day went by,” Weitzman wrote. “Then another. Payne reached out to some mutual friends to see if they’d heard from Harden. None had. Payne tried Harden’s personal chef.

“‘Yeah, he’s here,’ the chef said. ‘He’s just saying he needs more time to himself.’

“Finally, around Day 10, Payne’s phone buzzed. Harden’s name flashed across the screen. He told Payne that he was hurting, physically but also emotionally, that the previous two years – multiple trades, multiple injuries, multiple playoff failures – had left him drained and deflated, that he was eager to put it all behind him.”

While Harden didn’t want to make excuses for his poor play this postseason, he did note some of the challenges he faced trying to fit into a new role in Philly after being traded halfway into the season. 

“You got to fit in instead of running the show and, quite frankly, I hadn’t been put in that ‘fit-in’ situation since I was in Oklahoma City, like, 10 years ago. And also, I wasn’t healthy. So all that together was a lot on me, which I don’t expect people to feel sorry for me at all, and I rather just not talk about it and keep to myself and just keep pushing, but you asked.”

Not only was it a new team, but a new role entirely, and that changed the entire rhythm of Harden’s play. Both the Heat and Sixers have had a slow start to the season, but both are currently in playoff contention and could be on a collision course for a playoff rematch this season.