


James Harden doubling down on his “Daryl Morey is a liar” comments seems to be just the tip of the iceberg in his fallout with the Sixers.
The disgruntled star point guard — who called out Morey, the team’s president of basketball, at a recent press event in China — is just getting started in his plan to make things “very uncomfortable” for the Sixers, according to ESPN NBA insider Ramona Shelburne.
“Somebody said to me yesterday, ‘This is only the beginning,'” Shelburne said Tuesday during an appearance on “NBA Today.”
“This is just the beginning of what James Harden is going to do to make life very uncomfortable for the Philadelphia 76ers going into training camp.'”
Shelburne emphasized, though, that Harden’s situation won’t be similar to the standoff between Ben Simmons and the Sixers, when the former point guard remained silent and skipped training camp while fines piled up in the fall of 2021.
“This is going to be very uncomfortable,” she continued. “Ben Simmons didn’t say anything, Ben Simmons stayed home. When you heard anything, it wasn’t loud.
“… The phrase I kept hearing [in Harden’s case] was, ‘This is just the beginning.'”
Harden arrived in Philadelphia in February 2022 as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Simmons to the Nets.
It came after Simmons returned to the team in October 2021 and sat out due to mental health reasons until the trade.
Unlike Simmons, Harden took a more direct approach in voicing his dissatisfaction with Philadelphia.
The former league MVP called Morey a “liar” during his China tour with Adidas basketball over the weekend.
“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.
Harden, 33, is unhappy with Morey over the lack of a long-term max contract offer, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Saturday.
He is reportedly furious for taking a pay cut and then being left in the dark this offseason.
Harden took a $15 million pay cut in July 2022 and declined his $47.4 million player option with the Sixers to sign a $33 million deal for the 2022-23 campaign.
Things seemed to sour between Harden and the Sixers when the point guard picked up the $35.6 million player option on the last year of his contract in June, on the way to his trade request.
The Sixers plan to bring Harden back to training camp for the start of the season and are determined to make things work with the 10-time All-Star — after trade talks with the Los Angeles Clippers never materialized, according to ESPN.
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.
Harden has yet to directly address the reports publicly.