It seems James Harden isn’t limiting his basketball future to the continental United States.
The disgruntled Sixers point guard — who made waves on Monday after calling team executive Daryl Morey “a liar” — flirted with the idea of playing in China while visiting the country on a press event with Adidas basketball, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Every time I come here, the love is just like … it’s crazy, you know what I mean?” Harden, 33, said.
“So I feel like they deserve to actually see me come play here … Love is always crazy here.”
The 10-time NBA All-Star has been living his best life in China, filming TikTok videos and mingling with the fans.
Meanwhile, Morey’s tumultuous history with China is well-documented.
The then-Rockets GM sparked controversy in 2019 over a message that showed support for pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong.
The original message was deleted and Morey later stated: “I did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China.”
Harden had NBA Twitter buzzing earlier this week when he doubled down on his “Daryl Morey is a liar” comment while on the mic at an event in China.
“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,” Harden said.
Tensions between both sides were evident in June when Harden picked up the $35.6 million player option on the last year of his contract and requested a trade out of Philadelphia.
Harden’s verbal attack on Morey came days after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Saturday that the Sixers ended trade talks for Harden, with the team planning to bring him back for training camp.
The Sixers tried to honor Harden’s trade request, with his preferred destination being the Clippers, but no deal materialized, according to ESPN.
Harden is said to be unhappy with Morey over the lack of a long-term max contract offer after taking a pay cut and being left in the dark this offseason.
Harden took a $15 million pay cut in July 2022 after declining his $47.4 million player option with the Sixers, instead signing a $33 million deal for the 2022-23 campaign.
Separately, The Athletic reported Saturday that Harden no longer wants to play for the Sixers and has no plans of taking part in training camp.
As things appear to be boiling over in Philadelphia, some NBA stars are backing Harden.
In the wake of Harden’s comments about Morey, Sixers veteran P.J. Tucker shared a photo of the pair on his Instagram story and wrote: “I’m not acrobatic, I’m not flippin’ on my bros.”
Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, who played with Harden in Brooklyn, took issue with Wojnarowski describing Harden as being “disgruntled” over the situation in Philadelphia.
Elsewhere, former Sixers star Andre Iguodala explained on Gilbert Arenas’ “Gil Show” why he believes Harden has leverage in his standoff with Morey.
“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 has yet to directly address the reports about his fallout with the Sixers.
