When the 76ers acquired James Harden from the Nets for Ben Simmons, it seemed like they had maybe, finally found the perfect guard to pair with Joel Embiid.
The two were dominant in the pick-and-roll, but the second-round ceiling remained on the Sixers as they fell short of the conference finals in a seven-game loss to the Celtics in the 2023 playoffs. That was the last time the two would play together, though. Harden was traded to the Clippers that summer, and the Sixers once again tried to retool around Embiid.
The two former co-stars were once close allies, but Embiid says the relationship has fractured to the point of not existing anymore because Harden blames him for the trade. That, Embiid insisted to ESPN’s Dotun Akintoye, couldn’t be further from the truth and is one of the reasons he doesn’t like being a superstar.
“No one knows this, but even James [Harden] is not talking to me,” Embiid said. “That’s the part I don’t like about being ‘that guy,’ because it puts you in the middle of those situations. Because if you ask James, he probably believes I had something to do with him not being here. And I’m just like, ‘I won the scoring title. You won the assists title. We had a pick-and-roll that was unstoppable.’
“It hurts when you feel like you haven’t done anything wrong,” he continued. “When you think you have a relationship like that with somebody … you lose a lot.”
Embiid insists he tries to steer clear of personnel decisions, telling the organization he never wants to be “responsible for someone losing their job, someone getting traded, someone getting fired.” The problem with that stance, admirable as it may be, is that few will believe it’s the truth given the way the NBA world works in this current era. Top stars are almost always looped in on major decisions, and even when they try to feign innocence, there’s usually at least a stamp of approval being given on significant roster changes.
There’s a chance Embiid is genuinely the exception to the rule. Akintoye’s profile of the former MVP paints a picture of a star who is not exactly on the same page with the organization and keeps largely to himself and a small circle of trusted individuals that seems to grow smaller by the year.
Unfortunately for Embiid, Harden is skeptical that he truly had no influence in the move, and Harden’s friendship is the latest strained relationship for the superstar big man.
