The Philadelphia 76ers can’t catch a break recently. After losing Joel Embiid in their series-clinching Game 6 vs. the Toronto Raptors in the first round, they got a whooping against the Miami Heat despite finishing the first half of the game with an advantage.
James Harden disappeared in the second half of the match, having another off night, earning a lot of criticism for his performance. It looks like not only fans were unhappy with Harden, as Tyrese Maxey seemingly was tired of Harden’s bad game and refused to sit next to the former NBA MVP.
Twitter user @DrGuru_ shared an interesting video of Harden going to the bench and sitting next to Maxey seconds before the young player stands up and takes a seat somewhere else.
This situation raised many eyebrows around the league, and fans started debating if Maxey was actually mad at Harden or if there was another reason for him to leave his initial seat. While some said he was really pissed, others pointed out that Sam Cassell called Maxey to give him some indications.
Tyrese Maxey has already had enough of James Harden 😭 pic.twitter.com/eoPC3WginZ
— Guru (@DrGuru_) May 3, 2022
It feels like he was called by assistant coach.. but how about this video right here? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/7fwmBIdEws
— Ada B (@ad61836218) May 3, 2022
There’s no way, this gonna be out of context or something
— Leon (@Leon16167712) May 3, 2022
Stop painting narratives, clearly Sam Cassell called him over!!
— Charles custis (@Charlescustis1) May 3, 2022
https://twitter.com/LouAye_/status/1521515256928997378
Sam Cassell wanted to talk to Maxey wtf are you talking about?
— GoodSense (@Since19854) May 3, 2022
Sam Cassell clearly calls maxey over to talk. Even points to the open chair next to him offering up invite for Sam to come to him. Look for the positive, there’s already enough negativity in the world.
— dadzwill (@dadzwill) May 3, 2022
Lmao harden had enough of dj and maxey had enough of harden 😭
— Chef curry (Parody) (@baby_face_goat) May 3, 2022
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha How are media and analytics crowd gonna spin this? Man so overrated and Nets finally win a massive deal in the same way the lost one with the Celtics. Brilliant
— Brian Bennett (@briankhbennett3) May 3, 2022
Damn ! And he still leads them to the conf. Finals
— whoizzthat!! 💀 (@whoizzthat) May 3, 2022
Is this a real slight from maxey or did a coach call maxey over or something?
— Lord Mouseshere M80 (@RankstarBillym5) May 3, 2022
We can't count on Harden, the offense must run through Maxey the way it did when both Embiid and Harden were out the against the Heat at the end of the season and Maxey destroyed them. Time for Maxey to stop defering to the so-called star players!
— UrbanDevelopmntGroup (@UrbanDevelmtGrp) May 3, 2022
Dang. This reminds me of Kyrie/LeBron Cavs bench days when Kyrie was ready to sprint from toxic LeBron faster than Usain Bolt.
— Depressed Lakers Fan (@CLF__423) May 3, 2022
harden fans need to find a reason to protect harden from the haters 🤣 , but u can literally see Harden switch the sit without any reason and the coach isn't even talking to him the assistant coach noticed Maxey that's why he talk to him but he never called him bruh
— Jayce Z (@JayceZ7) May 3, 2022
James Harden makes teams fall apart everywhere he goes.
— 𝕮𝕵 😈🇲🇽 (@CJ2SC) May 3, 2022
harden is soo washed, just 3 months ago when man was on the court the nets coach had to run a whole different play just for him and now hes refusing to take more than 15 shots, i'm a 76ers fan and seeing benny get traded for harden was a mood lifter.
— puse (@Mustafa48003657) May 3, 2022
😐 Tell me you’ve never played organized basketball before w/o telling me you’ve never played organized basketball before. Sam Cassell , y’know, our assistant coach & former PG in this league, called his young PG over..anything for clicks 🫠
— ᴛʏʀɪᴋ ᴍɪʟʟᴇʀ (@TeamOnMaBackDoe) May 3, 2022
Wow this is really really bad…
— Viswa (@Ve_Wa) May 3, 2022
It’s probably why Harden got up and moved his seat, so Maxey could go talk to the coach. Funny how people can post a clip, without knowing what’s being said, and paint whatever narrative they want.
— SAH (@xKingsXmanx) May 3, 2022
https://twitter.com/ynvius_/status/1521523256506781696
Lol we all knew this once James harden stopped getting 20 free throws a night this would happen
— Dragoon (@dragoon1993) May 3, 2022
See how you start BS, the Coach called him down to talk yo him. You can see him look up when the Coach called him. He patted him on the back and started talking. Ease up!
— Tony Colston (@TonyColston2) May 3, 2022
Incorrect , the coach needed to speak to him so Harden moved so he could have his seat. Watch the full video
— D22 (@Baseballdaddy22) May 3, 2022
The Sixers blew the game in the second half, unable to close out the Heat that never stopped trying, ultimately getting the win, 106-92.
If Maxey is really upset with Harden, that’s not good for the Sixers. They must remain united while Joel Embiid is sidelined if they want to have hopes to turn things around later in the series. Harden hasn’t lived up to the expectations in Philly, and even though Maxey is a promising talent, he’s not enough to get past the Heat.
Philadelphia has a lot of work to do, Harden needs to step up or his championship chances will be equal to zero.
