‘What the heck?’ Embiid’s social media change causes stir as Harden standoff escalates
Sometimes much less is extra.
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid made some small however noticeable adjustments to his account on X, previously referred to as Twitter, amid the standoff between the workforce’s president of basketball operations, Daryl Morey, and guard James Harden, NY Post stories.
On Saturday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported, “The 76ers have ended trade talks on guard James Harden and plan to bring him back to training camp for start of the season.”
In a video posted Monday by The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Harden accused Morey of being a “liar.”
According to a narrative posted Tuesday by WIP in Philadelphia, Embiid “removed some things from his Twitter bio like ‘processing …’ and the location of Philadelphia.”
Embiid, the reigning NBA MVP, has been on the centre of the Sixers’ almost decade-long rebuild and the crown jewel round which Morey constructed a title contender.
Morey had hoped that would come with Harden when the previous Rockets basic supervisor accomplished a deal in February 2022 with the Nets, bringing Harden to Philadelphia and sending disappointing former first-round draft choose, Ben Simmons, to Brooklyn.
Harden, 33, is sad with Morey over the dearth of a long-term max contract provide, in keeping with Wojnarowski — who reported the Sixers plan to convey the 10-time All-Star again to coaching camp for the beginning of the season.
Harden took a AU$123 million pay lower in July 2022 and declined his $73 million participant possibility with the 76ers to signal a $51 million deal for the 2022/23 marketing campaign.
The new contract additionally included a participant possibility for the 2023/24 season.
Rumblings of a rift between Harden and Morey swirled in June when the purpose guard picked up the $55 million participant possibility and acknowledged his commerce request, with the Los Angeles Clippers being his most popular vacation spot.
Following the news that Philadelphia ended Harden commerce talks, The Athletic reported Saturday that the previous league MVP not desires to play for the Sixers and has no plans of participating in coaching camp.
To that finish, Harden unloaded on Morey throughout a latest press occasion in China with Adidas basketball.
“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organisation that he’s a part of.
“Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organisation that he’s a part of.”
Harden, in keeping with Sports Illustrated, supplied that reply after being requested: “What do you think about the current team claiming to end trade talks and trying to bring you back to the team?”
As for Embiid, he agreed in September to a four-year super-max contract value $303 million, tying him to the Sixers via the 2026/27 season.
Embiid has been the NBA’s main scorer over the past two seasons, averaging 30.6 factors per sport through the 2021/22 season and topping that final season by averaging 33.1 factors per sport.
He was the primary 76er to win league MVP since Allen Iverson in 2001.
This article initially appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission