Even though he has publicly called 76ers president Daryl Morey a “liar” and stated his intention to no longer play for the team, James Harden is currently carefree in China.
Videos of a happy Harden have been making the rounds on social media.
Harden is shown dancing in sync with an Adidas model in one of the videos, however he is clearly behind the model at all times.
In yet another, Harden participated in a live webcast on Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTоk, in which the objective was to see how much of his wine they could sell in a short period of time.
Harden, 33, thought maybe a few cases would sell, but was surprised to learn that all 10,000 bottles had been purchased within 30 seconds.
Harden seemed genuinely excited by the accomplishment, clapping and cheering whether or not it had been faked.
On Monday, Harden let Morey know how disappointed he was with him.
Clip of Harden saying to NBA writer Shams Charania, “Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of,” emerged after Harden asked the 76ers to move him in June.
Let me be clear: Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never join an organization that includes someone like that.
Harden’s comments in China, where Morey has been criticized for his backing of Hong Kong’s 2019 freedom protesters, were probably not coincidental.
Since Yao Ming’s NBA tenure in the early 2000s, when the Rockets were the nation’s favorite team, Harden has enjoyed enormous popularity.