James Harden Backed by NBPA After Major Fine

The attempt to land a max contract from the Philadelphia 76ers or the Houston Rockets this summer was unsuccessful for James Harden. Unfortunately, his lack of desirable offers was followed by a max fine this offseason, as Harden’s recent viral comments were not received well by the NBA.

While on a press tour in China, Harden decided to apply pressure on the Sixers’ front office. By labeling Philly’s President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey a “liar,” Harden made it known he wouldn’t play for a team run by the former Rockets executive again.

Harden’s comments didn’t come at a random time. Two days prior, it was reported that the Sixers planned to close down trade talks with the Los Angeles Clippers with the expectation that Harden would fulfill his contractual duties and report to camp in October.

Considering Harden requested a trade back in July after picking up his contract option with the Sixers for the 2023-2024 season, the All-Star guard was disappointed after not getting his way for the second time this summer. Harden’s comments were clearly strategic, and the NBA needed to learn more.

Since there was speculation created last summer about Harden’s decision to decline his option with the Sixers and take a pay cut for the 2022-2023 season, the NBA felt the need to step in once again and find out if there was wrongdoing on the Sixers’ part in negotiations with Harden even though they were already investigated and free of punishment beyond their tampering issues.

Harden privately explained his comments to the league and reiterated that there was no agreement on a future off-the-books contract. Rather, Harden felt the Sixers would stay true to their word and find a trade for him early on in the offseason so he could begin the 2022-2023 season as a member of another team.

After concluding their short-lived investigation, the NBA issued Harden a fine of $100,000. In a statement, the league announced that Harden was “indicating he would not perform the services called for under his player contract unless traded to another team” on two separate occasions.

On Tuesday night, the NBPA issued a statement of their own, backing Harden. Now, they will file a grievance to an arbitrator, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The NBPA will file a grievance to an arbitrator disputing NBA’s $100K fine on Philadelphia’s James Harden and league’s assertion that his recent statements violated collective bargaining agreement rules against public trade demands. pic.twitter.com/jAHSU4REa7
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 22, 2023

“We respectfully disagree with the league’s decision to discipline James Harden for recent comments he made, which we believe do not violate the rule against public trade demands,” the statement reads. “We intend to file a grievance and have the matter heard by our arbitrator.”

When the Sixers dealt with the Ben Simmons holdout two summers ago, the three-time All-Star guard filed a grievance of his own, which was successful. Harden will look for similar results as he’s got a hefty fine incoming.