Stephen A. Smith has shown himself as one of the most passionate commentators on James Harden‘s transfer saga in Philadelphia, as boss Daryl Morey is yet to resolve the situation. In this Thursday’s episode of First Take, he went out against the Sixers president alongside Brian Windhorst for not confronting the dilemma and letting it get bigger than it was necessary.
Morey, who had been part of the Houston Rockets during the The Beard’s historic performances at the franchise, was also involved back when The Beard wanted to leave the Texan club and follow his former boss to the 76ers. The ESPN analyst claimed that the executive has a bad habit of siding with his star players and avoiding confrontation.
The whole polemic began during the summer when the veteran guard publicly called Daryl a liar because he didn’t deliver his promise of trading Harden or offer him a worthy contract extension. Despite the fact that the 34-year-old has also acted unprofessionally in the past, Smith decided to side with him this time.
“If you are Daryl Morey, who I have not called yet, but I will. James Harden is not the only dude that felt lied to by you. Morey is known as a dude that caters significantly to his star players, sometimes while alienating lesser players. He also can’t stand confrontation,” the First Take host said about this ongoing drama.
According to the NBA expert, the fact that this problem hasn’t been addressed properly, has only served as a distraction in the Sixers camp. Smith insists that this seems like the same situation that happened years ago when Morey left the Rockets unexpectedly.
“So when James Harden went out and said that he was lied to, he called Daryl Morey, the guy who was there at Houston Rockets for 9 years and gave him a manicure and a pedicure, he did everything but kissed James Harden’s you know what,” he expressed on air. “And that is why he went to Brooklyn, because Daryl Morey left Houston like a thief in the middle of the night, and they did not want to deal with them.”
Harden skipped practice in Philadelphia for a second day in a row and excused himself by having to deal with a personal matter
The 76ers guard was nowhere to be found this past Thursday, as he decided to miss a second-straight day of practice. The team officials said that Harden was away because he was dealing with a personal matter.
“I think the organization has made it clear what’s going on,” coach Nick Nurse said about the situation. “They’re working on stuff, as we say, day by day. We had a really good practice today. Very energetic. The guys that were here, that’s what we’re focused on.”
“Maybe he had something to do.”
-Joel Embiid on James Harden’s absence at Sixers practice
(via @KyleNeubeck, @PHLY_Sixers) pic.twitter.com/eMyMZfbfE6
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 18, 2023
The veteran guard is yet to play this preseason with Philadelphia and has been very evasive about his trade-demand status this past week. Despite this, he actually said he was ready to play in the team’s preseason finale this Friday against the Atlanta Hawks, but now this seems “unlikely”.
“It’s been ongoing for a long time now,” Nurse shared. “I’ve got a job to do with the guys that are here and we just go to work. If that changes, we’ll adjust. That’s what we do.”
