Philadelphia crowds are well-known for holding grudges with departed stars. Hell, in some instances, you don’t even need to go away Philadelphia to really feel the market’s scorn.James Harden has seen either side.From Harden’s contract opt-in and commerce request to his calling Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey a “liar” and eventually being traded to the LA Clippers in late October, the when, the place and what of the Harden-76ers saga was one of the dominant storylines of final NBA offseason. It was mentioned and dissected on podcasts, TV reveals, social media and more.Nearly each NBA fan had an opinion on it, however this week, the person on the heart of all of it had little to say.“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Harden stated Monday when requested how he’d be greeted within the City of Brotherly Love. “We have bigger problems than me worrying about Philadelphia, you know what I mean?“We got bigger problems.”In some ways, Harden is proper. In his introductory information convention after being traded, the previous MVP declared, “I’m not a system player, I am a system.”But currently, that system has been found out, simply in time for a return to a place — for a mere 102 video games together with playoffs — Harden known as home however left in relative disarray in contrast to how he arrived.Morey, the 76ers lead exec since 2020, was Harden’s primary champion in Houston, the place Harden received the 2018 NBA MVP award and advanced into one of the perfect gamers within the league. When Harden arrived in Philadelphia from Brooklyn by way of commerce two years in the past in exchange for former All-Star Ben Simmons, who is now looked at as a pariah in Philadelphia, it was a celebration for Morey and an acceleration of the 76ers’ path to competition with all-world heart Joel Embiid.At the time of the deal in February 2022, Harden was headed for the final of 10 straight All-Star appearances. He acquired off to a robust begin with the 76ers, profitable his first 5 video games with the group and serving to to lead a closeout of the Toronto Raptors in his first playoff sequence with Philadelphia. But Harden was unable to excel with Embiid, who returned to play to help tie the semifinals in opposition to Miami after lacking Games 1 and a couple of with a facial damage, because the 76ers misplaced Games 5 and 6.“Since we got him, everybody expected the Houston James Harden,” Embiid stated after the 76ers had been eradicated in 2022. “But that’s not who he is anymore. He’s more of a playmaker.”The eventual rift with the 76ers had its roots in that 2022 offseason, when Harden grew to become a free agent after opting out of his $47.4 million participant option. Harden signed a two-year deal (with a participant option) however says he took thousands and thousands much less on his deal than he may have. The wiggle room allowed Morey to signal former Rockets P.J. Tucker and Danuel House to multi-year offers. Those offseason maneuvers acquired the detrimental consideration of the NBA, and the league rescinded two second-round picks from the 76ers as a result.Harden believed that a full season below coach Doc Rivers required him to change his function and be much less dominant, serving to to fuel Embiid’s first MVP season. In the playoffs with out Embiid, Harden had one of his finest performances as a 76er, main Philadelphia with a playoff career-high 45 factors within the Game 1 win over the Boston Celtics. But Harden mixed for less than 22 factors on 7-of-27 capturing in Games 6 and seven of that sequence, each losses for Philadelphia.Amid all of it, rumors continued to swirl about Harden’s potential interest in a Houston reunion, although that risk seemingly took a hit when the Rockets employed former Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka to exchange Stephen Silas in April 2023. Ahead of enjoying the Clippers in December 2021, Udoka, who was with the Nets as an assistant coach and de facto defensive coordinator when Harden was in Brooklyn, was requested about main Boston’s protection as opposed to operating the Nets protection, Udoka famous there have been challenges with Harden on the ground.“Don’t switch as much either … like Brooklyn does to some extent,” Udoka stated. “It’s two different teams, and I think we have different personnel, I can do different things. Brooklyn relies on that heavily for different reasons. Don’t want to work as hard on certain things. And so we can do a little bit of both.”Udoka downplayed not wanting Harden in Houston. The Rockets did, nevertheless, add a veteran guard to their younger core, selecting to signal Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet to a three-year, $130 million deal. Udoka later described VanVleet as a “better fit” for his program.Tensions between Harden and the 76ers went up a stage in June when he opted into his participant option for 2023-24 to facilitate a commerce, with the Clippers being his most well-liked vacation spot. Those tensions had been heightened even more in August, when Harden known as Morey a “liar” whereas talking at a advertising occasion in China.“Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of,” Harden informed the group in attendance in entrance of quite a few cameras. “Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”Those feedback, which Harden stated referred to Morey saying that Harden can be traded “quickly,” prompted an inquiry from the NBA. Morey and Harden by no means noticed eye-to-eye again.“So, taking less money, sacrificing, that’s not talked about,” Harden stated at his introductory information convention with the Clippers. “It’s talked about the other BS. And it just didn’t work out. So me leaving Brooklyn and thinking I’m going to retire as a Sixer, you know what I mean?“And the front office had other plans. They didn’t want me, and it is that simple.”That stare down would have lasted a matter of days if Harden had his method, permitting him to be traded earlier than the official begin of free company. Instead, it dragged out for months.The Clippers and 76ers postured over Harden all over coaching camp and the preseason. Harden didn’t attend Media Day in Philadelphia however joined the group at coaching camp in Colorado. Harden didn’t play in any preseason video games and took a private go away at one level, however he was nonetheless on the common season roster.Every week into the season, one of the most important offseason tales was lastly resolved. Harden was traded to the Clippers, ending a tumultuous chapter with the 76ers and coming into the next stop in his NBA journey in LA.Harden has achieved nicely to try to brush off how he has been obtained by followers and within the media. But he has been delicate to the narrative round him as nicely. When Dallas Mavericks tv analyst Brian Dameris mocked Harden by calling him “The Problem” as a substitute of “The System” in November, Harden claimed to have ignored it.“I don’t really care about what other people are saying,” Harden stated.His tune was a lot totally different when the Clippers received 131-122 in Phoenix at the start of January.“It gave people so much to talk about in a negative way, and now those people that were talking are nowhere to be found,” he stated. “Like, literally nowhere to be found.”Harden’s return to Philadelphia comes because the Clippers are destabilizing. After going 26-5 from Dec. 1 to Feb. 5, LA misplaced its fifth-straight home game on Monday night time and dropped to 44-27. The Clippers at the moment are behind Denver, Oklahoma City and Minnesota, with New Orleans holding a tiebreaker and sitting a half game behind them within the Western Conference standings.The Clippers can’t rating when Harden is off the ground but additionally can’t stop offenses when Harden is on it. Before the All-Star break, the Clippers outscored opponents by 7.4 factors per game in Harden’s minutes. In the 16 video games that Harden has performed because the All-Star break, the Clippers have been outscored by 4.0 factors per game in his minutes.“We gotta find our identity,” Harden stated. “Teams are scoring easy on us. Makes it difficult to score offensively.”Perhaps Harden doesn’t care now about returning to Philadelphia. He has stated comparable issues when dismissing boos in Oklahoma, Houston and New York. But he is going to care later, a method or one other. After all, Philadelphia is the place he wished to be and retire as an NBA participant, till he didn’t. And he was a main piece for the 76ers.Even if Philadelphia followers are understanding of the scenario, Harden represents an absence for which the franchise is nonetheless trying to fill the void, one thing it was unable to do during this season. The circumstance is even perhaps more on the forefront now that Embiid has missed the previous two months with a meniscus damage and the Sixers preventing for Play-In Tournament positioning after spending the primary half of the season among the many high groups within the Eastern Conference.That all might present grounds for disdain. Harden could also be used to it. But he’s going to need to win there to really feel higher concerning the standing of The System with the Clippers, the group with which he now desires to retire.(Top picture: Matt Krohn / USA Today)