Getty James Harden
James Harden caught the attention of many when he was filmed calling Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey a liar while vowing he would never play for him again, which went viral after The Athletic’s Shams Charania posted it on August 14. Among those who commended Harden for his comments was former Sixer Andre Iguodala.
During his appearance on “Gil’s Show” hosted by former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, Iguodala praised Harden for calling out Morey because of the leverage that he has as a player in this particular situation.
Andre Iguodala talks about why James Harden went at 76ers GM Daryl Morey.
“When you go into a contract negotiation, know what your value is and how you can leverage yourself. Know what opportunities you have on the other side, like to your safety net,” Iguodala said. “What is James’ safety net? Daryl Morey has a history with China, where he can say something, and the backlash from what he says, it may not be any because there’s a history there with Morey and China.”
Iguodala then summed up why he believes what Harden did was smart.
“It was a great move out of leverage by James, one, because it’s gonna be hard to discipline James, because what did he do wrong? Right? And James will sell some shoes. That’s ultimately why he’s over there,” Iguodala said.
Iguodala played for the Sixers from 2004 to 2012, where he made the all-star team in his last year with the team.
P.J. Tucker Shows Support for James Harden on Instagram
It appears Sixers starter P.J. Tucker has picked a side in the Harden-Sixers debacle. Following the release of Harden calling out Morey, Tucker posted a picture of him and Harden on his personal Instagram on August 14 with the caption, “I’m not acrobatic, I’m not flippin’ on my bros,” which was aggregated by Sixers’ Wire’s Ky Carlin on his X account.
PJ Tucker with a message #Sixers
Harden and Tucker have been teammates dating back to 2017 when they played together on the Houston Rockets, so it’s understandable that they’ve developed a strong enough rapport that Tucker would support Harden amidst the drama.
While it appears that Harden’s days with the Sixers are numbered one way or the other, Tucker’s still signed on with the team for two more seasons. Publically siding with Harden on the matter could muddy the waters between Tucker and the Sixers’ front office.
Insider Warns That ‘This is Just the Beginning’
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne revealed on ESPN’s NBA Today that Harden’s video denouncing Morey is merely the beginning of what Harden plans to do to force himself off the Sixers.
Ramona Shelburne: “Somebody said to me yesterday, ‘This is only the beginning. This is just the beginning of what James Harden is going to do to make life very uncomfortable for the Philadelphia 76ers going into training camp.'”
Philly; Sixers
“Somebody said to me yesterday, ‘This is only the beginning. This is just the beginning of what James Harden is going to do to make life very uncomfortable for the Philadelphia 76ers going into training camp,’” Shelburne said on August 15.
Shelburne that while the Sixers went through something like this with Ben Simmons, how Harden handles the situation will be different from how Simmons did in the worst way.
“I think the expectation with Harden is, they went through this with Ben Simmons. He didn’t show up to camp. He left money on the table. That’s not going to happen here with James Harden. This is going to be very uncomfortable, but Ben Simmons didn’t say anything… This was, with a microphone, ‘Let me repeat myself.’ The phrase I kept hearing was, ‘This was just the beginning.’ So I think the Sixers have to ask themselves, ‘What are we prepared for? How do we handle this?’ Is there any way that they can get through this and still have a productive season?”