James Harden rejects details in ESPN report on his rocky Sixers tenure: ‘Y’all gotta chill’

Prior to the 2022-23 NBA season, James Harden made 10 consecutive All-Star Game appearances as a member of the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets and Sixers.

But in his first full year as a member of the Sixers, he was not selected. And, according to an ESPN report, he was not happy about it. Harden, who was still an injury replacement candidate, reportedly failed to respond to NBA commissioner Adam Silver promptly and was passed over for Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam.

» READ MORE: James Harden uncertainty complicates these Sixers story lines

That detail and several others were unearthed in an ESPN feature reported by Ramona Shelbourne. But within hours of the story being published, Harden took to social media to dispute the claims, which included details of an ongoing rift between Harden and former Sixers coach Doc Rivers and displeasure from teammates about Harden’s decision to party during a Miami road trip.

Harden took the report to task, responding in two sentences via Instagram story. On the post, Harden said: “Y’all got to chill with these reports,” and added the laughing emoji. Later in the post he states: “Imma start reporting [expletive],” which was followed by the eye emoji.

Harden, who is typically mild-mannered and slow to respond to rumors, has been the topic of much discussion this summer after he opted into the final year of his deal with the Sixers and asked for a trade. He later added fuel to that fire during an adidas event in China, where he called Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey a “liar,” sparking an NBA investigation and receiving a $100,000 fine.

» READ MORE: Sixers add a well-known face to the bench, but still don’t have a point guard. Or do they?