James Harden believes he was kept “on a leash” during his time with the Philadelphia 76ers and that the front office didn’t want him.
“Taking $26 million less to sign and make the team better,” Harden said. “Changing my role, which media [felt] is ball dominant, which my ball dominance is really effective. But changing my role, trying to change the narrative, trying to sacrifice and do whatever it takes to win at the highest level. That’s not talked about. It’s the other BS.
“So me leaving Brooklyn and thinking I’m going to retire as a Sixer, and the front office had other plans. They didn’t want me. … There’s a lot of narratives and people think they have an opinion. … But none of that is true.”
Harden explained that “being on a leash” doesn’t necessarily apply to how many shots he was getting.
“I think the game and I’m a creator on the court,” Harden said. “So if I got a voice to where I can, ‘Hey, Coach, I see this. What you think about this?’ Somebody that trusts me, that believes in me, that understands me. I’m not a system player. I am a system. You know what I mean?
“So somebody that can have that dialogue with me, understand, move forward, figure out and make adjustments on the fly throughout the course of games, that’s all I really care about. It’s not about me scoring a basketball, scoring 34 points. I’ve done that already.”