James Harden has now unfollowed Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey on X, formerly known as Twitter. NBA Alerts, an account that reportedly uses bots to track activities from NBA players, coaches, and executives, first leaked the news Wednesday evening.
This move by the 10-time All-Star comes one day after the league issued him a $100,000 fine “for public comments on August 14 and 17 indicating that he would not perform the services called for under his player contract unless traded to another team.”
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👀 James Harden (@JHarden13) is no longer following @dmorey
— NBA Alerts (@theNBAalert) August 23, 2023
During an Adidas event last week in China, the 14-year veteran said, “Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of. 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.”
On Tuesday night, the NBPA filed a grievance to an arbitrator disputing the NBA’s $100,000 fine. However, Harden’s recent statements violated collective bargaining agreement rules against public trade demands.
“We respectfully disagree with the league’s decision to discipline James Harden for recent comments he made, which we believe do not violate the rule against public trade demands,” the NBPA said in a statement. “We intend to file a grievance and have the matter heard by our Arbitrator.”
James Harden has now unfollowed Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey on X, formerly known as Twitter
The arbitrator will decide if “I will never be part of an organization that Daryl Morey is part of” constitutes a trade demand,” according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. In the NBA’s defense, the league can argue that the Harden statement is conduct detrimental to the league.
During an interview with a KHOU 11 television reporter in Houston last Thursday, the seven-time All-NBA member was asked if his relationship with the Sixers is beyond repair.
“I think so,” Harden replied. “I’ve been patient all summer. For me, it’s just focus on what I can control and getting ready for this season.”
James Harden has removed his 76ers affiliation from his bio 👀 pic.twitter.com/dZeuzMZxgH
— Sixerdaily (@Sixerdaily) July 19, 2023
In July, Harden removed the Philadelphia 76ers from his X/Twitter biography. The three-time scoring champ wants out of the City of Brotherly Love. Throughout the offseason, the guard has been vocal about playing for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Harden requested a trade from the Sixers on June 29 after he exercised his $35.6 million player option for the 2023-24 season. His player option is part of the two-year, $68.64 million contract he signed last July.
Furthermore, Harden signed his two-year deal last offseason after declining a $47.4 million player option for the 2022-23 season. Of course, he made 58 starts this past season with the Sixers. Harden averaged 21 points, 6.1 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 1.2 steals, and 36.8 minutes per game.
