James Harden reportedly headed to Sixers’ training camp amid potential ‘circus-like atmosphere’
James Harden sure knows how to cause a scene when he wants out.
In 2020, he attended a birthday bash in Atlanta for his friend Lil’ Baby and skipped the start of Houston Rockets training camp when players were required to be in-market.
When he finally showed up late, Harden was unmotivated and out of shape.
He was eventually dealt to the Brooklyn Nets, but, apparently fed up with the impact of Kyrie Irving’s anti-vaccine stance, Harden forced his way out of there at the trade deadline in February 2022.
Now Harden is trying to force an exit off of a third team in three years.
He skipped the Philadelphia 76ers’ media day on Monday and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports Harden plans to arrive this week at the team’s training camp at Colorado State amid a “circus-like atmosphere.”
“The expectation is that he’s on his way to Colorado,” Wojnarowski said Tuesday on an ESPN YouTube segment. “The question’s going to be, once he arrives in Colorado, what are the Sixers going to get from James Harden?”
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He added: “James Harden wants a trade, he wants to make the 76ers uncomfortable, so uncomfortable ultimately that they don’t think they’re going to get the best out of him and that they’ll make a trade.”
Woj said the Sixers plan to “wait this out” in the hopes they get the “best version” of the 10-time NBA All-Star.
But, of course, there’s no guarantee that will happen. And there’s no urgency for the Sixers to trade him, either.
“The Sixers are asking for a lot to trade James Harden,” Woj said on NBA Today “... The Clippers are in a situation right now where they can await of what happens in Philadelphia... let what might become a very distracting circus like atmosphere to play out.”
Over the summer, Harden called Sixers GM Daryl Morey a “liar” for not accommodating his trade request to his hometown L.A. Clippers.
In August, the NBA fined Harden $100,000 for “comments...indicating that he would not perform the services called for under his player contract unless traded to another team.”
“He continues to seek a trade, and we’re working with his representation to resolve that in the best way for the 76ers and for all parties,” Morey told reporters Monday.
