The Philadelphia 76ers’ promising season came to a rather predictable end. Just like what happens with most Doc Rivers’ teams, they crumbled under pressure when facing one of the NBA’s finest.
This has been a common trend for years now. The Sixers put together a solid squad and had two legit stars, but it still felt like they were never actual championship contenders.
And now that James Harden could opt out of the final year of his deal, ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne reports that he wasn’t exactly thrilled to play for Rivers again in the future.
James Harden Doesn’t Want To Play For Doc Rivers Anymore
“James Harden was not all that supportive of Doc Rivers in his press conference yesterday,” Shelbourne reported. “Behind the scenes, from what I’m told, one person said to me it would be hard for me to see James wanting to come back and play for Doc again. This is going to be a situation where those two decisions are linked.”
According to @ramonashelburne James Harden coming back to the Sixers would depend on Doc Rivers as coach. “Behind the scenes, from what I’m told, one person said to me it would be hard for me to see James wanting to come back and play for Doc again.”
Rockets Want Harden Back
Earlier this week, Adrian Wojnarowski reaffirmed the Houston Rockets’ interest in bringing Harden back, citing that not even landing the No. 1 pick would be enough to change that stance:
.@wojespn says there's "a very real possibility" that James Harden returns to Houston 👀 "If [the Rockets] win the lottery ... and they're the ones who can draft Victor Wembanyama, my sense is that would not necessarily change the Rockets' intentions to pursue James Harden."
“And listen, it may ultimately be a leverage play for James Harden,” Woj said. “Houston may be his way to get him the kind of guaranteed money, long-term money he wants from Philly. But I wouldn’t underestimate it as just a leverage play. I think he’s very serious about returning. And Philadelphia now, they have strong relationships in that organization from Daryl Morey, starting with him in their front office. It’s going to be a really interesting couple of months.”
see also
Top 10 NBA Free Agents 2023: James Harden, Draymond Green and eight other players
The Rockets have put together a plethora of young talents, and adding Harden to that mix could be a volatile experiment. Whatever the case, it seems like he’s not going back to Philadelphia.
