- PJ Tucker took to Instagram to support James Harden
- Harden had stunningly called 76ers President Daryl Morey a liar in public
- Danny Green and Kevin McHale also chimed in on the situation
Shockwaves were sent across the basketball world on Monday when James Harden called 76ers President Daryl Morey a liar in public in China. Harden has received some pushback over it, but his teammate PJ Tucker still has his back. Tucker posted a story on Instagram to show support for Harden.
“I’m not acrobatic, I’m not flipping on my bros”
Tucker is quoting lyrics from Nardo Wick’s “Hot Boy” which features Lil Baby. He isn’t going to flip on Harden, and it shows the great bond they have formed as teammates, not just on the 76ers, but also when they were together on the Houston Rockets from 2017 to 2021. It could also be that Tucker believes Morey did lie, as Harden is claiming.
Danny Green Spoke About This Situation
Danny Green was teammates with Harden for half a season when the 10-time All-Star arrived midway through the 2021-22 campaign. They played 19 games together, and Green addressed this issue during an appearance on NBA Today.
“There’s not many things that shock me in this world,” Green said. “But to see a star player like James Harden, call out by name, Daryl Morey and speaking from his own mouth. You usually hear it from sources, but to him speak it. You can tell he’s agitated, he’s upset.
“It was shocking. I was very shocked by it, but I do see both sides,” Green continued. “As a player, I’m always gonna side with the player. Not just because I’m a player, but I also don’t think he’s wrong. If he was promised something, I think you need to come through with that promise.
“But I see the other side of it with Daryl Morey. I understand it’s a business,” Green added. “And GMs, they make a lot of decisions quickly in the heat of the moment and your mind is going to change, your emotion is gonna change at different times, and maybe his hands are tied to this. Maybe he’s not able to offer James the extension that he wants.
“So I understand Daryl. I understand James,” Green stated. “Do I think this can be something that can be amended? Probably not, but Daryl is going to have to meet him at least halfway to try to bring him into camp. I also don’t see James as a guy that’s going to come into camp and dog it. He’s either not gonna play, or when he does play, I see him being the professional that he is and giving his best, but I don’t see him doing that. I think he’s gonna try to hold out.”
(starts at 2:10 mark):
Considering how Harden showed up out of shape toward the end of his time with the Rockets, it wouldn’t be a shocker if he wasn’t totally professional about this whole situation. Green is right, though when he says this is not a situation that can be amended. You thought there might be a chance to fix it when it was first reported that the relationship is fractured, but when you go public like this, it’s all over.
James Harden’s Former Coach Kevin McHale Wasn’t Surprised By These Events
Kevin Mchale coached Harden for a little over three seasons on the Rockets, from 2012-13 to 2015-16, when he was fired after 11 games. When Mchale was asked about this situation, he stated he wasn’t surprised, as Morey, who was their GM at the time, had let Harden get away with a lot of things even back then.
“A lot of the little things that was not demanded that James do after a while, I was like, ‘Man, that only lasts so long,” McHale said. “You’re not gonna win if you don’t do the little things. Like if you’re not a player that can go out and get defensive stops, you better be a great team defender.
“Those were all of the things I said James can do it, he just, he didn’t want to,” McHale continued. “So I just was like this is only gonna last so long when your top guy is not willing to just do a lot of the dirt-working things that it takes to win, not NBA games during the season, but what it takes to win championships.
“At some point, you’re playing a team every bit as good as you are, so you’ve gotta just do all the little things,” McHale added.” I thought Daryl let him slide on a lot of that stuff. I just feel like eventually, that just comes back and bites you in the rear end. So, there it was. It came back and bit him in the rear end now.”
(starts at 0:54 mark):
"James can do it, he just didn’t want to [do it]"
Hear James Harden's former coach and Basketball Hall of Famer, Kevin McHale, tell @RickKamlaSports and @DarthAmin why he's not surprised by the recent developments in Philadelphia with Harden and Daryl Morey pic.twitter.com/yyETZd4N1j
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 14, 2023
McHale and Harden had some beef after the former was fired, so it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t paint a great picture of the former MVP here. He does perhaps make a fair point that if you let players just get away with whatever, then it will eventually come back to bite you, as it has here.
As for what the 33-year-old wants, it is reported that Harden plans to make the 76ers so uncomfortable that they won’t bring him to training camp. It sure is going to be quite interesting if Harden is still on the team when we get close to the start of camp.
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