NBA fines Sixers’ James Harden $100K for ‘liar’ comments about Daryl Morey

The league also announced that a recent investigation confirmed that Harden’s comments were not pertaining to any prior handshake agreement about a future contract, which would be a rules violation.

Sixers guard James Harden has been fined for his comments about Daryl Morey.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

by Gina Mizell

Published Aug. 22, 2023, 12:31 p.m. ET

The NBA has fined Sixers guard James Harden $100,000 for his public comments last week “indicating that he would not perform the services called for under his player contract unless traded to another team,” the league announced Tuesday.

Last week, Harden called 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey a “liar” and added that he would “never be a part of an organization that [Morey is] a part of” while in China promoting his basketball shoe line. Then, during an interview with KHOU 11 in Houston, Harden said “I think so” when asked if his relationship with the Sixers is “beyond repair.”

The league also announced that a recent investigation, which included an interview of Harden, confirmed that these comments “referenced Harden’s belief that the Sixers would not accommodate his request to be traded” — and were not pertaining to any prior handshake agreement about a future contract, which would be a violation of league rules via salary cap circumvention.

Later Tuesday, the National Basketball Players Association issued a statement that it intends to file a grievance in response.

“We respectfully disagree with the league’s decision to discipline James Harden for recent comments he made, which we believe do not violate the rule against public trade demands,” the statement said.

This is another development in an uncomfortable offseason saga for the Sixers and Harden. Rather than become an unrestricted free agent, Harden exercised his $35.6 million player option for 2023-24 but simultaneously requested that the Sixers trade him. His preferred destination is the Los Angeles Clippers.

Earlier this month, news surfaced that the Sixers were not satisfied with the limited trade options and that the team expected Harden to be on the roster for the start of training camp. That sparked Harden’s public denouncement of Morey.

Sixers owner Josh Harris, who recently became owner of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, said before that team’s preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens Monday that he “[wants] to, obviously, accommodate what [Harden] wants.”

“At the same time, I have to think about a championship-contending team, what we can get back,” Harris added. “I’d love to convince him to stay. I understand that that’s not what he wants to do right now.

Harden led the NBA in assists during the 2022-23 regular season (10.7 per game) for a Sixers offense that ranked third in the league in offensive efficiency at 117 points per 100 possessions, but he performed inconsistently during the playoffs. The Sixers, who are trying to remain a contender anchored by reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid, were unwilling to hamper their short- or long-term future by signing Harden, who will turn 34 this month, to a lengthy max contract.

The recent NBA investigation comes after the league stripped the Sixers last season of two future second-round draft picks for having premature free-agency discussions with P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, two former Harden teammates with the Houston Rockets. But that same probe also did not uncover any evidence of wrongdoing in regard to Harden, who took a significant pay cut by opting out of the final year of his contract to sign a new “one-plus-one” deal that provided the Sixers with the financial flexibility to sign Tucker and House.