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The Philadelphia 76ers‘ season ended on May 14, and they’ve already made a move two days into the offseason – parting ways with Doc Rivers. Following Rivers’ departure, NBA Insider Ramona Shelburne revealed the tension going on between Rivers and James Harden.
In an appearance on “The Anthony Gargano Show,” Shelburne talked about how things were going between Harden and Rivers throughout the season while giving specific instances of what went down.
“The Harden-Doc Rivers thing was never great,” Shelburne said. “There was a lot behind it. There was this team meeting I had heard about where Doc tried to say something about (Harden) going out on the road and how does that look, and how does that look to your teammates. If you’re going to do that, you’ve really got to show up in the game. There was a lot of trying to hold James accountable in certain ways.”
Shelburne added that all of that regarded issues off the court, but, on the court, she didn’t think “it was ever a great fit,” according to her.
Shelburne concluded by saying that she didn’t know if Harden requested for Rivers to be fired, but the Sixers made that choice anyway.
James Harden Did Not Want to Play For Doc Rivers Again
On May 15, Shelburne revealed that Harden did not support Rivers and that he would not want to play for Rivers again.
“James Harden was not all that supportive of Doc Rivers in his press conference yesterday,” Shelburne said. “Behind the scenes, from what I’m told, that one person said it would be hard for me to see James wanting to come back and play for Doc again. This is going to be a situation where those two decisions are linked.”
Shelburne said Harden’s decision to stay would hinge on whether the Sixers decide to keep Rivers, which they decided not to.
“As we go forward into this offseason and you have another second-round exit, you have to decide if you want to lock in your future around those two guys, and then if you’re doing that, what does that mean for Doc Rivers because the decision seems to be linked.”
Though Rivers is out of the picture, Harden’s future with the Sixers will remain up in the air until he makes his decision this summer.
James Harden Reuniting With Rockets a ‘Very Real Possibility’
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski revealed that the Houston Rockets are a real threat to sign Harden because they have the cap space and they want to be better next season
“It was a real possibility back on Christmas, and it remains so now that the Sixers are in the offseason that we’re started to head toward July free agency. Houston’s a very real possibility for Philadelphia’s James Harden in free agency. They’ve got upwards of $60 million in cap space. They want to be much better next season,” Wojnarowski said on ESPN’s Get Up on May 15.
Wojnarowski added that, even with the high lottery odds the Rockets have, they will still pursue Harden regardless of the pick they end up with.
“There’s a comfort level in Houston for James Harden. He’s got family there. He’s very comfortable in that environment, and this is an organization where he knows ownership. He knows the front office, and I think regardless for the Rockets of whether or not they won the draft lottery, if they win the lottery tomorrow night here in Chicago, and they’re the ones who can draft Victor Wembayana, my sense is that would not necessarily change the Rockets’ intentions to pursue James Harden.”
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