James Harden absent from 76ers' Media Day, unclear whether he'll attend training camp
The brewing conflict between the Philadelphia 76ers and star guard James Harden has taken another turn.
Harden was not in attendance for Philadelphia's media day on Monday morning, according to team president Daryl Morey. The guard has been pushing the organization to trade him for much of the offseason, and his refusal to attend the 76ers' media day activities is the latest part of that effort.
“He's not here today,” Morey said Monday. “He continues to seek a trade and we’re working with his representation to resolve that in the best way for the 76ers and hopefully all parties.”
The Sixers team president went on to say that he expects Harden to be present for the team's upcoming training camp, which will take place from Tuesday-Friday at Colorado State's Moby Arena in Fort Collins. It is unclear at this point whether Harden will attend.
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James Harden trade news
Harden has been pushing the 76ers to trade him for much of the offseason after picking up his $35.6 million contract option in June.
The guard had initially exercised the option with the hope that his team would grant him his trade request. By mid-August, the 76ers announced that efforts to trade Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers — his reported preferred destination — had stalled after engaging in several conversations with the team.
Mere days after Philadelphia's report on its trade efforts, the discontented guard lashed out at Morey during a media event for Adidas in China.
"Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he's a part of," Harden said. "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."
He was fined $10,000 for the outburst.
Despite leading the NBA in assists, Harden is clearly unhappy with his current role playing the Robin to 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid's Batman in Philadelphia.
The former MVP's recent escalation is not the first time he's pushed a team to force a trade. While he was with the Houston Rockets, Harden showed up late to training camp and requested a trade in November after Morey — then the Rockets' general manager — and head coach Mike D'Antoni left Houston.
The Rockets traded the star guard to the Nets in January of that season. Thirteen months later, he headed to Philadelphia in a trade to reunite with Morey, now the 76ers' team president. Though Harden never made an official trade request, ESPN reported at the time of the trade that that was only out of fear of more public backlash.
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James Harden contract
After the Brooklyn Nets traded Harden to the 76ers during the 2021-22 season, the guard declined to exercise his $47.4 million option for 2022-23 in June, after the season had concluded.
One month later, he signed a two-year, $68.64 million contract with Philadelphia that included a player option for the 2023-24 season. At the end of the 2022-23 season, Harden exercised that option in the hopes that the 76ers would find a trade partner to send him elsewhere.
James Harden stats:
In his age-33 season, Harden averaged 21 points, 6.1 rebounds and 10.7 assists — which led the NBA — per game. He shot .441 from the field and .385 from behind the arc — the second-best mark from 3 in his career.
The 76ers guard won the MVP award in 2018, was the NBA scoring champion for three straight years (2018-2020) and is a 10-time All-Star. The 2022-23 season was the first time Harden was not named to an All-Star team since 2011-12, his third NBA season.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 76ers' James Harden: trade, contract, latest news after media day absence
