NBA legend and former Houston Rockets head coach Kevin McHale isn’t surprised by the drama James Harden is causing with the Philadelphia 76ers. Harden has requested a trade from the Sixers and called Daryl Morey “a liar” during an interview in China.
“Yeah, not so much,” McHale told Steve Bulpett of Heavy Sports. “I’ve been involved in a million meetings as a coach and GM, and, you know, players hear what they want to hear a lot of times. And Daryl’s smart. My whole take on the thing is I think Daryl’s really hooked up with James, but I think ownership looked at it. Let’s face it, if the owner looks at you and says, ‘We’re signing that dude,’ you’re signing that dude. Story’s over. And if the owner looks at you and says, ‘We’re not signing that dude,’ you’re not signing him.”
Harden is unhappy with Morey over the lack of a long-term maximum-level contract offer this summer. The 10-time NBA All-Star only wants to get traded to the Los Angeles Clippers and doesn’t plan to report to training camp if he’s still on the Sixers.
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“James wanted a big extension from Philly, and Philly wouldn’t give it to him, and that’s not a Daryl decision,” McHale said. “Daryl’s got a part of that, of course, but that’s an owner decision. So (Harden) was really mad, saying Daryl lied to him, but, you know, maybe they saw Game 7 against the Celtics (9 points on 3-for-11 shooting in a 24-point loss) and said, ‘I’m not interested in that.’ I think Daryl would have probably tried to extend him and keep everything happy. But as far as trading him goes, you know, Daryl gets stubborn. It’s going to be interesting.”
McHale coached Harden for three years and 11 games in Houston. The two did not have a good relationship and Harden played a role in the Rockets’ decision to fire McHale during the 2015-16 season.
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“But overall with James, it wasn’t that bad,” McHale said. “The year he came to camp heavy and didn’t feel like playing, that was hard. I remember looking at him and saying, ‘Ugh, it’s going to take to December before he’s in shape.’ But whatever situation you’re in, you just have to find a way to work through it if you want to be successful. It’s the same with James and Daryl here. We’ll see.”
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