By: Marselis Davis
This week has been off to a tumultuous start for the 76ers to say the least. On August 14, Harden publicly called 76ers’ President Daryl Morey a “liar” and vowed to never play for a franchise that Morey was a part of. This has sparked much discussion around the league and sports media over who is in the right in this scenario. Among those who weighed in on the issue has been Mavericks’ star guard Kyrie Irving.
On Twitter, NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported on the tension between Harden and Morey. He referred to Harden as “disgruntled.” Irving then replied on Twitter with the following:
In his tweet, Irving comes to Harden’s defense and says that there should be more context applied by the NBA media as to why Harden may have made a statement like this.
Irving’s response to this situation probably comes from a place of personal experience. In fact, the reason that Irving is on the Mavericks in the first place was due to issues between himself and the Brooklyn Nets front office.
Throughout his tenure in Brooklyn, Irving had a handful of controversies with the franchise. These ranged from the vaccine, to leaving the team, to posting controversial subject matter on social media. This led to a lot of tension between Irving and the Nets front office. When the Nets decided that they would not give Irving the max contract that he wanted, he requested a traded and cited that he wanted to play for a franchise that “respected him as a human being”.
This is likely why Irving has more consideration towards the possibility that Morey may be more at fault in this situation than Harden. Irving had contractual issues with the Nets and believes that Harden may be going through the same thing. In fact, Irving and Harden were teammates on the Nets, and both of them requested trades from Brooklyn so that makes this response even more intriguing.
This response also is somewhat of an extension of the player empowerment movement, in which players are more public about their opinions and viewpoints. Irving’s response gives an alternative viewpoint to the sports media and allows for a more balanced perspective on what Harden may be dealing with. Harden and Irving’s trade requests also show an extension of the player empowerment movement, in which players are more assertive in playing for the teams that they want.
In the end, it remains to be seen how the 76ers and specifically Morey will handle this situation and when Harden will be traded. However, Irving’s response shows that Irving has a greater sense of skepticism towards the integrity of franchise front offices and wants more attention to be given to the issue.
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