James Harden says his relationship with the Sixers’ front office is beyond repair

James Harden compared his relationship with the Philadelphia 76ers’ front office to a bad marriage, and said the partnership is beyond repair.

“This is in life,” he told reporters Friday. “When you lose trust in someone, it’s like a marriage. ... I wanted to retire a Sixer. And the front office didn’t have that in their future plans.”

Harden, who has yet to play this preseason, said he plans to compete in the preseason finale against the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 20 and then once the regular-season begins Oct. 26 at the Milwaukee Bucks. The Sixers play the Nets on Monday ahead of the Atlanta game.

“I take it one game a at a time,” he said. “My plan is to play basketball, yes for sure.”

He added: “I’m here putting work in. that’s all I can do. I work my butt off. “You can say whatever you wanna say about me, but you don’t get this far in this league without putting work in. That’s what I hang my hat on. So whenever things fail or things don’t go how you feel they should go, you just continue to work, and that’s it.”

The situation with Harden appears to be the one piece of bad news for Philadelphia sports, where the Eagles are 5-0 and Bryce Harper and the Phillies are back in the NLCS for a second straight year.

After averaging 21 points and 10.7 assists last season, Harden opted into his $35.6 million player option for 2023-24, and then requested a trade.

Over the summer, Harden called Sixers president Daryl Morey a “liar” during an Adidas event in China for not accommodating his trade request to his hometown L.A. Clippers.

“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of,” he said. “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.”

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.”

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Harden remains hopeful of being traded to the Clippers, but one league source told NJ Advance Media the Clippers “won’t add [Terance Mann] to the deal.”

“I believe the Clips have sincere interest but what will Daryl accept in a trade?” one league source said. “He wants to win the press conference so he needs to make a good haul of players and draft picks for Harden.”

Veteran forward Danny Green previously said he thinks Harden is too much of a professional to create a major distraction and sit out.

“Ultimately, playing against him for so many years, and playing with him for a short amount of time and knowing James, I don’t see him not playing,” Green said. “There is a little unknowing of (what he’ll do next). He’s upset, but I think he’s trying to separate the two. You can be upset there, but be family here, and be great with his teammates, with his brothers, and be a part of something that he knows can make something happen and be special.”

A second league source said he hopes the Clippers don’t ultimately land Harden.

“I hope not,” the source said. “The Clippers are dangerous enough without him.”