SAN FRANCISCO — James Harden is weighing his options again.
It’s late Thursday at Chase Center, some five months after he chose to issue his third trade request in the past four seasons and 20 minutes after his new LA Clippers team fell by five points to the Golden State Warriors. Harden, having made his way from the visitor’s locker room to a nearby space where the postgame food options for players are on display, is reliving his messy Philadelphia exit in our interview when he interrupts himself to announce his latest choice.
Advertisement
“I was trying to get something to eat,” he says before heading for the team bus, “but it don’t look good.”
If only getting to the Clippers had been as easy as saying no to this particular buffet. Or, for that matter, playing for them.
In the weeks since Harden finally got his wish, joining Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook on this Clippers team that features four future Hall of Famers who all hail from the Los Angeles area, the process of maximizing all this perimeter talent has been as challenging as many predicted.
As veteran forward P.J. Tucker put it, “There’s not enough basketballs on the planet for this team, really.”
They lost their first five games with Harden before winning five of the next eight. The low point came last Monday, when they fell to a Denver Nuggets team that was without Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon. The high point may have been Saturday, when George’s game-winning 3 in a home rematch against the Warriors brought them all the way back from a 22-point deficit.
They still have plenty of time to make it work, what with four months left in the regular season. But as Harden is well aware, there is a healthy dose of pressure on them because of the offseason outlook. Not only are all four stars able to be free agents this summer, but also the Clippers — headed by the man with the deepest NBA pockets of them all in Steve Ballmer — are slated to open the $2 billion Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., next season.
For Harden’s part, he’s still trying to figure out the present while processing his recent past. His relationship with Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey was one of the most unique between a star player and a front-office executive that the league had ever seen, but it all fell apart as free agency neared last summer. He had different reasons for wanting to leave Houston and Brooklyn, but the Sixers situation had everything to do with what Harden still believes was a broken promise: the max deal that he says Morey insisted was coming his way. When it became clear in late June that it wasn’t, he forced his way out (again) by opting into the final season of his contract (worth $35.6 million) and demanding a trade.
Advertisement
Harden, the 34-year-old former MVP who has been roundly criticized and villainized for the way he handled his past few years, spoke at length about it all with The Athletic.
“People were throwing dirt on my name, but the good guys always win,” he said with a smile.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
So what are your big-picture thoughts so far with this (Clippers) group? What do you like? What do you not like? What’s the vibe?
It’s hard to tell overall, but I think this is just a really good situation for me in the sense of having an opportunity to win, being around family and just having an opportunity to still chase my goals and things that I want to accomplish basketball-wise.
When you decided you were done in Philly, was it always Clippers or nothing else? What was your thought process?
It was about trying to get to a situation where I could get paid and obviously have a chance to win at the highest level. These last few years, I sacrificed so much — whether it’s role, whether it’s financial — that, at this point, it’s over with. I just want to be able to move forward and still have the opportunity to make some money and obviously win at the highest level.
So you mention the financial part, and I was hoping you could clarify one aspect of that situation. Were you actually told by the Sixers that you had that deal coming?
A max?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That was said by Daryl?
Yes. Yes.
Then when did you start figuring out that it wouldn’t be there? I’d heard that he stopped communicating with you in the summertime, and you took that as a sign that things had changed.
Yeah, me and Daryl had a really good relationship. So (in the past), a week or two after we lose in the playoffs, it would be all about trying to figure out how to improve the team. (They’d talk about) ‘How do we get better?’ And that’s been going on for 10-plus years, you know what I mean? And then this year, there was no communication. And at that point, it’s like, ‘OK, I see what’s going on.’ I’m very intelligent. So then I just figure out ‘What’s my next move, and what do I want to do?’ So I understand that, at the end of the day, this is a business. And just like he has to do what’s best for his organization, I’ve got to do what’s best for me and my family. It’s as simple as that.
Advertisement
You took a lot of flak for choosing to opt in rather than just getting your freedom in free agency, but you wound up getting paid and getting where you wanted to go too. I assume you had a good read on the market and knew it would look a whole lot different financially if you’d gone that route?
It would have looked different for sure. The teams that are growing, or young, were gonna have the money, but that doesn’t make sense. And then the competitive teams don’t have the money. So all in all, it would have probably ended up with me looking Philly in the face again. So it was strategic, and people can talk and say (things), but they have no idea (without being) in this situation. Like I continue to say, I made the best decision for myself and my family.
Were you sweating through that time, though?
No, I wasn’t sweating. It was just patience, because the day that I opted in, there was a conversation and communication (with the Sixers) about it being a 10-day process. This was gonna happen within 10 days, and then it got dragged out for four and a half months or however long it was. So at that point, you’re holding my life up, holding everybody else’s life up. You’re making it look crazier than what it is. And something that we had internal conversations about is basically dragging out, so it was a little frustrating.
All in all, I’d sacrificed all that to go to Philly with some people that I trusted, and it bit me in the ass, you know what I mean? So it’s part of life, and we all go through certain things, so it’s gonna make me tougher.
As our Shams Charania reported in mid-August, Harden told NBA investigators that the unexpected delay after his trade demand was the reason he repeatedly called Morey a “liar” during an Adidas shoe event Aug. 14 in China. As for the sacrifice of which he speaks, that took the place in summer 2022.
Five months after getting traded from the Nets to the Sixers, Harden chose to decline his $47 million player option for the 2022-23 season and sign a two-year deal with the Sixers (with a player option in Year 2) that started at $33 million. The motivation, as has been well-chronicled, was to help Philadelphia improve the roster by providing the financial flexibility.
Amid league-wide speculation that there might have been a quid pro quo arrangement between Harden and the Sixers relating to his next contract, the NBA investigated the matter. In the end, the league found no wrongdoing relating to Harden and the Sixers. It did, however, determine that Philadelphia had engaged in early free-agency talks with Tucker and Danuel House, and the team subsequently was docked second-round picks in 2023 and 2024. As I’ve reported previously, Morey contends this penalty — and the league’s insistence that the Sixers no longer engage in early free-agency talks — was the reason he didn’t communicate with Harden about his free agency after the playoffs.
To clarify, were you told that you would get the max after you gave that money back so they could get P.J. (Tucker) and…
… De’Anthony Melton. Danuel House.
Advertisement
But timing-wise, when did Daryl tell you that you’d be getting the max?
Well, the time that’s important was before the playoffs started (last season). He had conversations with my representation.
When reached about Harden’s claim, a Sixers team source denied this was the case.
So there’s another subplot that I’m hoping you can speak on. We all knew that going back to Houston was a pretty serious possibility for you if you hit free agency, but then they decided against it. It’s been reported that you told them you wanted to go back to being a scoring champ and to go back to being the guy who played that Rockets style basketball, and that it was a turnoff that led to them changing their minds. Is there truth to that?
Where is the personnel for that on that team? And in the last three or four years, what have I been trying to accomplish (in terms of playmaking)?
To Harden’s point, he hasn’t averaged 30-plus points since winning his third consecutive scoring title in the 2019-20 season but has averaged at least 10 assists in the last three seasons (including a league-leading 10.7 last season).
You can answer that for yourself. Now the meeting was had, and those conversations about style of play, how I’ve been playing and things like that (took place). But (the idea of) me going out there and averaging 30-something points a game — who wants to do that?
Who was in the meeting?
Representation, (Rockets) head coach (Ime Udoka). That was it.
Basketball-wise, with this crew, I know it’s a little tough right now, but are you seeing it yet at all?
We’ve got lights. We definitely have lights.
Harden has had mixed results since his Clippers debut Nov. 6 against the Knicks. He’s leading the team in assists during that time (6.4 per game) but is third in scoring (15.7 points per) behind Leonard (21.6) and George (21.4) and tied with Westbrook for third in field goal attempts (10.4 per, while Leonard is at 18.6 and George is at 16.6).
Advertisement
Since Westbrook started coming off the bench Nov. 17, the Clippers have gone 6-3. Harden has averaged 16.1 points, 7.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds in that span with a team-high plus-minus mark of plus-68. Leonard is second at plus-67, while George is third at plus-51. Westbrook, meanwhile, is a team-worst minus-41.
It’s hard with four guards, man. Ty Lue keeps making the point that all of these old super teams with stars had a big man who would sacrifice — KG with those Celtics, Chris Bosh with Miami, Kevin Love in Cleveland. It’s usually two wings and a big. So how do you do this?
We show really good signs, and then we have (lapses) where it’s like, ‘Damn, we should’ve won if this would’ve happened.’ But we’ve got a whole season of this. Obviously we want to win games while we’re going through figuring it out, but we’ll see what this team looks like going into the postseason. That’s the most important thing.
Would you change anything about the way you handled the whole situation, leaving Philly?
Nah, it wasn’t my decision (laughs). So I mean, at that point, you put me in a situation and I’ve got to sit back, survey what’s going on and then make the best decision that’s going to be beneficial for me and my family. Like I just told you, I sacrificed money to come to Philly hoping to retire (there). So when you guys throw a curveball at me, now I’ve got to step back — and I’m not just a guy who’s radical, who’s just gonna do anything. I’m strategic. I think before I react. And a lot of people don’t understand and know that about me, which is fine.
People don’t know you, James. You know that.
They don’t know me at all, and I’m fine with that. So with all the stories, you’re never gonna hear me go back (at people) on social media. Eventually, it’s gonna play out.
I was around you and Daryl so much in Houston through all those years, and I’ll be honest: It’s still just wild to me that your relationship ended like this. You probably had the most unique player-front office relationship…
Ever.
Yeah, maybe in the history of the game.
Yeah. It surprised the hell out of me, you know what I mean? I looked at it like a marriage. We talked about a lot of s—. And we’ve got a lot of s— that, in front of people’s eyes, you don’t know or understand. But instead of (Morey) having a conversation with me (about free agency) or saying, ‘All right James, we don’t want to offer you this, but we have this.’ Then we go back and forth, and that’s a dialogue. But you just ice me out? Then it’s like, you don’t respect me as much as I thought you did. You don’t need people like that, you know what I mean? So it’s just bad karma. People were throwing dirt on my name, but the good guys always win.
Safe to assume you all still haven’t connected?
There’s too much money, too much respect (lost) and too much loyalty on my end to even double back (with Morey). There’s nothing to talk about. There’s nothing to talk about. This is real money.
GO DEEPER
NBA Draft Big Board: Isaiah Collier on top as season of uncertainty kicks into high gear
Get The Bounce, a daily NBA Newsletter from Zach Harper and Shams Charania, in your inbox every morning. Sign up here.
(Top photo of Daryl Morey and James Harden: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
