Philadelphia 76ers

Report: NBA cracks down on James Harden with $100K fine for recent comments about Daryl Morey

Published by
Mike Battaglino

James Harden has been fined $100,000 by the NBA in response to the Philadelphia 76ers star calling team president Daryl Morey a “liar.”

The NBA released a statement on the matter on Tuesday.

“The NBA announced today that Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden has been fined $100,000 by the NBA 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,”  the statement read. “The league’s investigation, which included an interview of Harden, confirmed that these comments referenced Harden’s belief that the 76ers would not accommodate his request to be traded.”

Harden recently made the comments about Morey as a reaction to not yet being traded as he expected to be after opting into his contract with the 76ers for this season. The 33-year-old former NBA MVP said he would not be part of the same organization as Morey and later said he believed it was too late to repair his relationship with the franchise.

Harden reportedly is looking to be traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, with “minimal to no buzz” linking him to the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks or New York Knicks.

Last season, Harden averaged 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game but again fell short in the playoffs with the 76ers losing to the Boston Celtics in the second round after holding a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. He scored nine points in the 24-point loss in Game 7 after scoring 13 points in a Game 6 loss at home.

Morey has traded for Harden twice during his career as an executive, first with the Houston Rockets from the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012 and again during the 2021-22 season from the Brooklyn Nets.

Kevin McHale, who coached Harden and worked under Morey with the Rockets, recently expressed his disappointment with the situation and said it likely is based on decisions made by 76ers ownership, not Morey.

The entire episode has put the 76ers into quite a bind, not only with Harden, but also with the effect it may have on NBA MVP Joel Embiid. Reports have speculated that the center may eventually tire of the drama in Philadelphia and request a trade from the organization. The Knicks reportedly are one of the teams closely monitoring the situation.

Now that Harden has been fined, the ordeal seems to be getting worse with the sides running out of time to come to a resolution before the 2023-24 NBA regular season begins.

Mike Battaglino

Mike is a veteran journalist who has focused on New York sports. He has covered the NBA and NFL for almost three decades and is still waiting for the next championship for the Knicks and Jets.

Published by
Mike Battaglino

Recent Posts

‘Wtf’: Trae Young reacts to Rashad McCants saying he could score 81 points like Kobe Bryant

Back in January of 2006, former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant put on one…

5 hours ago

Rashad McCants says he could’ve won ROTY but had a coach who was ‘shaking in the motherf——g huddle’

Former NBA guard Rashad McCants was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the last lottery…

5 hours ago

Chandler Parsons says Jaylen Brown would be best player on over half of NBA teams, including some playoff teams

The Boston Celtics were without maybe their top player for Wednesday's Game 2 versus the…

5 hours ago

‘Spo gonna Spo’: Cavs player gives Erik Spoelstra his flowers after Heat’s near-upset in Game 2

The odds were stacked against the Miami Heat to pick up a win in Game…

6 hours ago

Report: Will Campbell landing with Patriots may depend on whether team gets ‘fair deal’ to trade down

As a consolation prize for a woeful 2024 season that was marred by losing, the…

6 hours ago

Report: ‘Most of the league’ has been contacted about Jalen Ramsey, including Rams, Lions and Eagles

Miami Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey is one of the more notable players in the league…

6 hours ago