That bag of money James Harden received on his birthday last August might come in handy.
The disgruntled Sixers point guard has been fined $100,000 by the NBA for his public comments last week when he called the team’s president, Daryl Morey, a “liar” — and said he “will never be a part of an organization that [Morey’s] a part of” while on the mic during a press event with Adidas in China.
The NBA announced the news on Tuesday following an investigation into the situation and said Harden’s comments indicated “that he would not perform the services called for under his player contract unless traded to another team.”
Harden picked up the $35.6 million player option on the last year of his contract in June, when he simultaneously requested a trade out of Philadelphia.
As part of the NBA probe into his “liar” comment, Harden told league investigators he was referring to a promise Morey made him that the Sixers would trade him “quickly” following his decision to opt in on his contract in 2023-24, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Harden’s comments that he would never be part of an organization that included Morey “played a bigger part” in the fine, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported, as it touched on the league’s rules concerning public trade demands.
“Any player (or, for clarity, any player representative or person acting with authority on behalf of a player) who publicly expresses a desire to be traded to another Team shall be subject to a fine and/or a suspension,” per the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.
“The maximum fine that may be imposed by the NBA on a player pursuant to the foregoing shall be $150,000.”
Days after making the comments about Morey, Harden was asked during an interview with KHOU 11 in Houston if it’s “too late to repair the relationship” with the team.
Harden said, “I think so.”
Sixers owner Josh Harris said that he is working to convince Harden to stay in Philadelphia, but is willing to “accommodate what he wants” if they are unable to get the All-Star point guard to rescind his trade request to the L.A. Clippers, per The Athletic.
“Listen, we’re hard at work,” Harris, the new primary owner of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, said Monday before the Commanders-Ravens preseason game. “I respect James. I want to, obviously, accommodate what he wants.
“At the same time, I have to think about a championship-contending team, what we can get back. I’d love to convince him to stay. I understand that that’s not what he wants to do right now.
“I’m going to keep working to resolve it in a way that everyone can live with and is positive for everyone, whatever that resolution is. … I respect him as a basketball player, and as a person. It’s back to, these are, you’re dealing with people, right? And you’ve got to be there. We’ll see where it comes out.”
Harden has yet to publicly address the fine.
Instead, the former league MVP posted a video on Twitter from his black-tie charity event this past weekend, where his Sixers teammate, P.J. Tucker, was in attendance.
Harden, 33, is unhappy with Morey over the lack of a long-term max contract offer, Wojnarowski reported on August 12.
The same report said the Sixers had ended trade talks with Harden as they planned to bring him back for training camp.
Harden is reportedly furious for taking a $15 million pay cut in July 2022, declining a $47.4 million player option with the Sixers to sign a $33 million deal for the 2022-23 campaign, and then being left in the dark this offseason.
Things could get worse in Harden’s standoff with the Sixers.
His comments about Morey were “just the beginning” of his plan to make things “very uncomfortable” for the Sixers, ESPN NBA insider Ramona Shelburne reported last Wednesday.