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“He had a Plan”: 8 Years After Millionaire NBA Legend Lost His Job, “Fat” James Harden Comes Under Fire in a Scathing Allegation

Published 08/17/2023, 10:40 PM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

James Harden continues to bruise the 76ers Franchise. He has now openly called out their GM Daryl Morey. He accused him of being a traitor and not honoring the word. Harden has found some support from current and former NBA players, but the situation needs more explaining. This is not the first time that the scintillating three-point shooter has asked out of a team. He has done it twice before. 

When he did it with the Rockets, critics flayed him for not showing up to work with full commitment. His former coach called this his elaborate design.

James Harden is done with Daryl Morey

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During the 2020 offseason, the Guard had wanted out of the Houston Rockets. After spending eight seasons with the squad, he wanted a different look. The team had made a couple of deep playoff runs but couldn’t get to the Finals even once. 

Therefore, Harden showed up out of shape and a bit detached from the game during the preseason game. Apart from that, his performances kept dwindling as the season progressed and he even became a butt of jokes.

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The fallout with the Philadelphia 76ers has a rather similar murmur. The Guard had been not maintaining his weight and looked a bit out of shape these days.

After the 76ers didn’t offer the Guard a super-max extension, he became irate. He had taken a pay cut last season so that the team could sign PJ Tucker. But he didn’t get what he wanted in return. 

Reports came streaming that he is done with the 76ers and wants to change his scenery. Then during his recent China tour, he openly declared, ”Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”

For emphasis, he repeated, ”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”.

This caused a huge storm in the league. Harden’s former Rockets coach Kevin McHale weighed in on the issue. He had coached Harden for multiple seasons and along with him went to the WCF in 2014.

But after the loss in the WCF and a poor 2014-15 season start, it fired him. He links his firing to Harden’s actions, stating to Heavy, “He was fat and didn’t feel like playing, and I got fired (11) games into the season, He had a plan“.

Then he further criticizes the former Thunder Sixth Man of the Year.

McHale blames Harden for disturbing 76ers’ harmony

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Calling Morey a “smart guy’’, $16 million worth, McHale ripped into Harden. As per him, the ECSF Game 7 performance where Harden shot 3-11 for nine points against the Celtics made Morey say “I’m not interested in that”. He blames the 2018 MVP for jeopardizing the 76ers’ rhythm. The Celtics legend says “The person I mostly feel bad for is Joel Embiid”. Then he blames Harden for publicizing the team’s inner workings.

via Getty

He critiques him by saying, ”You can do a lot of stuff behind the scenes. You don’t need to come out and just throw that out there. James started a forest fire with that”. Having coached Harden for multiple seasons during his glorious Houston days, it is clear that he isn’t pleased with what the two-time assists leader is doing.

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Watch This Story: “Victory Dance on Daryl Morey”: Just a Day After James Harden Stunned the NBA World, His Dance Moves With Chinese Star Might Do It Again

Do you agree with McHale here? Is Harden in the wrong for publicly criticizing Morey? Do share in the comments below. 

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Written by:

Shubham Singh

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Shubham is an NBA Writer at Essentially Sports. He became a fan of the NBA in late 2000s and his interest skyrocketed after Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks upset the Miami Heat in Six Games during 2011 NBA Finals. He loves looking into playing styles of different players and teams while also trying to analyse what circumstances shape a typical NBA game.
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Edited by:

Sameen Nawathe