Kevin McHale shed light on Heavy.com on the conflict between the Sixers and James Hardensince the latter activated his last year of contract at 35.6 million dollars… before requesting his transfer.
The reason ? The player did not get the long-term contract he was hoping for and so he decided to pack up, calling Daryl Morey a “liar“. This same Morey, president of the Sixers, who had fought to bring him to the Sixers.
Daryl Morey at the orders of his owners
For Kevin McHale, who knows the two men very well for having rubbed shoulders with them at the Rockets, Daryl Morey is not the main person responsible for the failure of these negotiations which led to this now irreversible situation.
Quite simply because it is not him but the owners of the Sixers, Josh Harris and David Blitzer who have the last word. Daryl Morey would therefore only have respected the instructions of his superiors.
“I’ve been to a million meetings as a coach or as a GM, and you know, players often hear what they want to hear”he confided. “Daryl is smart. I think he had really hooked up with James, but the owners also looked at the situation. Let’s face it, if the owner looks at you and says, ‘We’re signing this guy’, you’re signing this guy. And the story is over. And then if the owner looks at you and says, ‘We’re not signing this guy,’ you’re not signing him”.
The former Celtics legend interior also pointed out that the owners’ point of view could stand, especially in view of Game 7 of the conference semi-final lost to Boston, in which James Harden went through.
“James wanted a big overtime from Philadelphia, and Philadelphia wouldn’t give it to him. It’s not Daryl’s decision. Daryl has his share of the blame, of course, but it’s an owner’s decision.” he added. “So Harden was really angry that Daryl lied to him, but maybe they just saw Game 7 and said, ‘We’re not interested. I think Daryl probably would have tried to extend it and make everyone happy. But when it comes to trading it, you know, Daryl is stubborn. It will be interesting”.
The balance of the Sixers undermined
While waiting for the epilogue of one of the soap operas of this offseason, Kevin McHale also has a thought for Joel Embiid, who sees his main lieutenant shatter the team’s unity, but also for Nick Nurse, freshly arrived and who already finds himself having to manage a hot file.
“The person I feel the worst for is Joel Embiid. This guy is coming off an MVP season, but when your team is fractured at the top like that, when one of the top two players says, ‘I’m out of here. This guy is a liar, you have no chance of winninghe pointed out. “I also feel bad for Nick Nurse. A new coach who arrives, and was like: “Oh, my God, this is going to be interesting”. It disrupts the whole rhythm of the team and it’s totally unnecessary. We can do a lot of things behind the scenes. It is not necessary to talk about it openly. James started a forest fire with that.”
The moment Harden became one-dimensional
Finally, he recalls how difficult Harden has become to coach over the years. He regrets the Harden of the Thunder…
“You know, when we got him back from Oklahoma City, he was actually pretty easy to train,” concludes McHale “He was the third option at Oklahoma City with (Russell) Westbrook and (Kevin) Durant ahead of him. He came in and we put a couple of systems in place that he liked and we put in place for him. He came out of the screens. He was playing without the ball. He was never someone who took the halls. He never threw the ball forward much. But he did more little things back then. He was putting up screens, coming out of screens, things like that. But when he started playing better, it got harder. He wanted the ball in his hands, he wanted to be involved in all the action. It started to become more one-dimensional: ‘Give me the ball, put me a system with four players getting out of the way. Or give me a pick and roll, and let me make all the decisions. »
| James Harden | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2009-10 | OKAY | 76 | 23 | 40.3 | 37.5 | 80.8 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 9.9 |
| 2010-11 | OKAY | 82 | 27 | 43.6 | 34.9 | 84.3 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 12.2 |
| 2011-12 | OKAY | 62 | 31 | 49.1 | 39.0 | 84.6 | 0.5 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 16.8 |
| 2012-13 | HOO | 78 | 38 | 43.8 | 36.8 | 85.1 | 0.8 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 5.8 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 25.9 |
| 2013-14 | HOO | 73 | 38 | 45.6 | 36.6 | 86.6 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 6.1 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 3.6 | 0.4 | 25.4 |
| 2014-15 | HOO | 81 | 37 | 44.0 | 37.5 | 86.8 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 7.0 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 27.4 |
| 2015-16 | HOO | 82 | 38 | 43.9 | 35.9 | 86.0 | 0.8 | 5.3 | 6.1 | 7.5 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 4.6 | 0.6 | 29.0 |
| 2016-17 | HOO | 81 | 36 | 44.0 | 34.7 | 84.7 | 1.2 | 7.0 | 8.1 | 11.2 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 5.7 | 0.5 | 29.1 |
| 2017-18 ★ | HOO | 72 | 35 | 44.9 | 36.7 | 85.8 | 0.6 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 8.8 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 4.4 | 0.7 | 30.4 |
| 2018-19 | HOO | 78 | 37 | 44.2 | 36.8 | 87.9 | 0.9 | 5.8 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 3.1 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 0.7 | 36.1 |
| 2019-20 | HOO | 68 | 37 | 44.4 | 35.5 | 86.5 | 1.0 | 5.5 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 4.5 | 0.9 | 34.3 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 44 | 37 | 46.6 | 36.2 | 86.1 | 0.8 | 7.1 | 7.9 | 10.8 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 4.0 | 0.8 | 24.6 |
| 2020-21 * | BRK | 36 | 37 | 47.1 | 36.6 | 85.6 | 0.8 | 7.7 | 8.5 | 10.9 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 0.8 | 24.6 |
| 2020-21 * | HOO | 8 | 36 | 44.4 | 34.7 | 88.3 | 0.6 | 4.5 | 5.1 | 10.4 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 4.3 | 0.8 | 24.8 |
| 2021-22 * | All Teams | 65 | 37 | 41.0 | 33.0 | 87.7 | 0.9 | 6.9 | 7.7 | 10.3 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 4.4 | 0.6 | 22.0 |
| 2021-22 * | BRK | 44 | 37 | 41.4 | 33.2 | 86.9 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 10.2 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 4.8 | 0.7 | 22.5 |
| 2021-22 * | PHL | 21 | 38 | 40.2 | 32.6 | 89.2 | 0.6 | 6.5 | 7.1 | 10.5 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 3.4 | 0.2 | 21.1 |
| 2022-23 | PHL | 58 | 37 | 44.1 | 38.5 | 86.7 | 0.7 | 5.4 | 6.1 | 10.7 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 3.4 | 0.5 | 21.0 |
| Total | 1000 | 35 | 44.2 | 36.3 | 86.0 | 0.8 | 4.9 | 5.7 | 7.0 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 3.7 | 0.5 | 24.7 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def= defensive rebound; Tot = Total bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; Points = Points.
