The Sixers‘ guard James Harden has been making the headlines for his uncooperative antics ever since his demand for a trade never came to fruition. Harden, who has been with the Sixers since 2021, made the demand for a trade back in June. His preferred destination was the Clippers, and although they showed some interest, they did not go over and beyond to have him on the team.

Then began the Harden drama saga that dragged on for months until the regular season. Harden had been missing from the team activities for ten days until Thursday when he showed up all packed and ready to travel to Milwaukee with the team for their season-opening match against the Bucks. But not so easy there, champ; as his antics caught up to him and he had to stay back in Philly.

The Sixers waived off Harden’s fines

After leaving fans unsure of whether he would be joining the team on their opening night, Harden showed up on Thursday, but it was decided that it would be best if Harden stayed back and put in the work and made up for the practice hours that he missed. Despite this, Harden was let off the hook easily because he was not fined for all the practice sessions he missed.

Earlier, ESPN’s Bobby Marks had estimated that Harden would be fined $389,082 for every game he missed without the team’s permission, as well as an additional fine starting at $2500 for every practice he misses. If we do the math, it amounted to about $1.5 million. However, it looks like the Sixers have waived these fines for the guard as sources say that he was not fined for any absence from the team.

So, Harden’s only reprimand was to stay put in Philly and put in the hours. In fact, he was met with a surprise when he showed up at the airport to travel to Milwaukee with the team.

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Harden was sent away from the airport

The Beard turned up at the airport only to be stopped by security and was told that he could not accompany the team to Milwaukee. To start with, reports say that keeping him back was considered more of a suggestion than a requirement. Harden went on to take part in some of the practice with the goal of traveling to Milwaukee with the team later that day.

But it is understood that General Manager, Elton Brand and Head Coach, Nick Nurse decided to keep him back in Philly to let him make up for lost time and get his body in shape for the season. Harden will be staying back with a trainer as well as the Sixers’ two-way players.

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