Sixers’ James Harden receives support from NBA players, China after remarks about Daryl Morey

NBA players have James Harden’s back and they don’t like how the 76ers point guard is being portrayed.

Earlier this week, Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving took exception to a headline on X (the former Twitter) by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that read, “Disgruntled Harden calls 76ers prez Morey a ‘liar.’”

“Is he Disgruntled Adrian??” Irving wrote in a reply on X. “Or is he holding [Daryl] Morey accountable for his dishonesty and lack of transparency throughout the contract negotiation process this summer?”

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Harden made waves on Monday during his trip to China to meet fans and attend events. His comments about Morey during a press conference at an Adidas-sponsored event in Beijing went viral on social media.

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

The media and onlookers gasped at Harden’s statement before breaking into cheers.

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Morey is despised in China for tweeting a since-deleted image in 2019 that read “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.” It was a slogan used by anti-Chinese government protesters during the social unrest that rocked Hong Kong.

Morey’s tweet led to an NBA blackout in China during the 2019-20 season. The comments cost the NBA $150-$200 million that summer.

While the NBA returned to the Chinese multinational entertainment conglomerate Tencent, the Rockets remained blacklisted by Tencent and state television broadcaster CCTV for the 2020-21 season.

During an appearance on Gil’s Show, hosted by former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, ex-Sixer Andre Iguodala praised Harden for calling out Morey because of the leverage he has in this situation.

“When you go into a contract negotiation, know what your value [is] and how you can leverage yourself,” Iguodala said. “Know what opportunities you have on the other side, your safety net. What is James’ safety net? Daryl Morey has a history with China where he can say something and the backlash from what he says, it may not be any because there’s a history there with Morey and China. So, it was a great move out of leverage by James. One, because it’s going to be hard to discipline James, because what did he do wrong? And James is going to sell some shoes. That’s ultimately why he’s over there.”

Harden informed the Sixers that he wanted to be traded on June 29 when he picked up the $35.6 million player option on his contract for the upcoming season. At the time, the Sixers’ second-best player made it known that he preferred to be shipped to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Sixers said they would help facilitate his request.

Harden’s video in China, which surfaced Monday morning, came after the Sixers informed Harden’s agent that they have ended trade discussions. They plan to bring him back for the start of the season. However, Harden does not plan to attend training camp.

As reported Tuesday, Sixers teammate and close friend P.J. Tucker expressed support for Harden via his Instagram story: “I’m not acrobatic, I’m not flippin’ on my bros.”

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“Why is he disgruntled?” Iguodala said in response to Wojnarowski’s X headline. “Why isn’t the front office ever disgruntled? They always put players in a certain light. What you’re hearing a lot now is players have too much power, because we’re getting smarter and smarter. We know how to move, how to say certain things, and how to use our leverage.

“When we make mistakes, it’s used against us, correct? But when they make mistakes, we never put ourselves in a position to use their mistakes against them as well. I just think he had a perfect opportunity to repeat himself.”

Since arriving in China, Harden also expressed to fans a desire to play a season there.

“Every time I come here, the love is just like ... it’s crazy, you know what I mean?” he said. “So I feel like they deserve to actually see me come play here. ... Love is always crazy here.”

But playing in China might not be as easy as Chinese fans would like if Harden isn’t traded to another NBA team soon and remains adamant about not playing for the Sixers.

According to the collective bargaining agreement, any player who “withholds playing services for more than 30 days after the start of the last season covered by his contract” could be deemed to have violated his contract and forbidden from entering free agency and signing with another professional team until the team he last played for “expressly agrees otherwise.”