The 2023 NBA offseason featured many seismic headlines. However, there was perhaps none bigger than the ongoing James Harden-Philadelphia 76ers debacle. Harden, 34, requested a trade in July following a contract dispute with team management. I’m not going to outline the full saga and assume you know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, you can find more information on ESPN.
Harden’s latest outburst brings to light a growing NBA culture defined by trade requests. In recent years, players have increasingly deferred to requesting trades in order to publicly voice their contempt over some aspect of the team. Other NBA superstars such as Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler and, most recently, Damian Lillard have utilized this “player autonomy” model to force their way out of organizations. Harden may very well be the poster child of this era, with his latest request marking his third in the last four seasons.
Despite multiple successes in the past, Harden has evidently hit a wall on his third attempt. Entering into training camp, Harden remains at an impasse with Philly management. He refuses to play under Sixers general manager Daryl Morey but doesn’t have another viable option. It’s time to dissect the circumstances that led to Harden’s backfired attempt at “player autonomy,” and why players should avoid falling into a situation like Harden’s at all costs.
The crux of Harden’s situation lies in the fact that he and Morey over-relied on informal agreements to drive their professional relationship. Reports indicate that last summer, Harden and Morey had numerous “wink-wink,” under-the-table agreements. This led Harden to take a significant pay cut to make room for “win-now” players like P.J. Tucker, as he believed Morey would give him a max contract the following offseason. When these informal talks didn’t come exactly to fruition, the foundation of Harden and the Sixers’ relationship fell apart.
The first lesson of effective player empowerment: there needs to be a clearly defined level of separation between the ownership and the player. For the business relationship to work, it requires formal agreements between parties. Although Harden and Morey were close from their days in Houston, their camaraderie proved to be their downfall in this instance.
The second and most important takeaway from the Harden situation is that players severely diminish their value when they abuse the power of “player autonomy.” Most other players who’ve requested trades in NBA history have only done it once. For this reason, Harden is a prime case study of what happens when a player requests a trade too many times, especially over a short period. Evidently, the more times a player requests a trade, the less likely other teams are to trade for that player, as they don’t want to take on the burden of dealing with an easily disgruntled player. When Harden speaks so publicly and candidly about his tarnished relationship with Morey, he builds a persona that’s petty and hot-headed.
As the season draws closer, Harden and the Sixers remain in a precarious state. Harden should serve as a cautionary tale — players who push the limits of player autonomy can effectively derail their entire careers. To continue following this story and much more, join me every other week as we take a step back and survey the NBA landscape.
