James Harden Bluntly Calls Out ‘Liar’ Daryl Morey, Makes Vow

James Harden clearly isn’t feeling any sort of brotherly love toward Daryl Morey these days.

A Saturday report indicated Harden was not on good terms with the 76ers front office. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Philadelphia recently ended trade talks involving Harden and intends to have the star guard at training camp. Although Harden apparently made his desire for a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers clear to Morey and company, a blockbuster deal never materialized.

But the current Harden situation evidently goes beyond the typical tension between an unhappy player and team executives. The 2018 NBA MVP let that be known and then some amid his recent trip to China.

“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization he’s a part of,” Harden said, per a video shared by The Athletic’s Shams Charania. “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.”

Morey and Harden go way back. The former was the Rockets general manager in 2012 when the 10-time All-Star was traded to Houston, where he played for nine seasons and established himself as one of the league’s best players. And less than two years after leaving the Rockets for the 76ers, Morey helped facilitate Harden’s move out of Brooklyn when the 33-year-old wanted to break free from Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Harden seemingly doesn’t have much leverage in this situation after picking up his $35.6 million option for the 2023-24 season. So at this point, it might be a matter of how much Morey is willing to tolerate.