Joel Embiid reveals why James Harden refuses to speak to him amid 76ers trade fallout

The Philadelphia 76ers achieved a coup of sorts on February 10, 2022, when they acquired James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first-round selections.

Much was expected from Harden, with the management at the time confident they had found the perfect guard to pair with franchise icon Joel Embiid. Harden and Embiid did form a strong partnership for a while, though they fell short of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2023, losing in seven games to the Boston Celtics.

That series would mark the last time the duo played together, as Harden was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers that summer. In a recent interview with ESPN’s Dotun Akintoye, Embiid revealed that his relationship with Harden was fractured by the trade, as Harden believed Embiid was responsible for his departure.

Joel Embiid reveals that James Harden doesn’t speak to him anymore

“No one knows this, but even James [Harden] is not talking to me. 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… pic.twitter.com/ThHfbBBbpX

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“No one knows this, but even James Harden is not talking to me. That’s the part I don’t like about being ‘that guy,’ because it puts you in the middle of those situations. 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,’” Embiid said.

“It hurts when you feel like you haven’t done anything wrong. When you think you have a relationship like that with somebody, you lose a lot,” he added.

The 31-year-old is undoubtedly the face of the Philadelphia franchise and therefore holds some influence regarding personnel decisions. However, Embiid emphasized that he tries to stay out of front office matters, telling management that he never wants to be “responsible for someone losing their job, someone getting traded, someone getting fired.”

While it remains unclear whether Embiid had any say in the decision to trade Harden, there is no doubt the pair were dominant on the court for a season.

Selected third overall by the 76ers in the 2014 NBA Draft, Embiid has spent his entire professional career with the franchise. While he has yet to lead Philadelphia to an NBA title, he has earned numerous individual accolades — including the 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, two scoring titles, and seven NBA All-Star selections.

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