- 2 days ago
Rarely do you see a friendship between an NBA executive and a superstar as genuine as the one between Daryl Morey and James Harden. Morey wore t-shirts with Harden's face on them, Harden listened to Morey's math theories and basketball. Together they set records for three-pointers made and changed the game as we know it and if you're a fan of long-two's you're angry but that's the way basketball is now, sorry Dad.
Together on the Houston Rockets and then again on the 76ers, the dynamic-duo didn't manage to win any rings...or make any finals appearances... and what do you know that beautiful, unique, game-changing friendship deteriorated into, you guessed it from the title of the series, Beef.
Shall we eat?
Written and produced by: Clara Morris
Directed and edited by: Charlotte Atkinson
Together on the Houston Rockets and then again on the 76ers, the dynamic-duo didn't manage to win any rings...or make any finals appearances... and what do you know that beautiful, unique, game-changing friendship deteriorated into, you guessed it from the title of the series, Beef.
Shall we eat?
Written and produced by: Clara Morris
Directed and edited by: Charlotte Atkinson
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00In the history of professional sports, there have been few executive player relationships as harmonious, as mutually beneficial, as weirdly
00:08supportive as the relationship between James Harden and Daryl Morey, while they were together on the Houston Rockets and rising
00:16to prestige and veneration throughout the league.
00:19Wasn't so chummy once Harden got older and slower and grumpier.
00:28Let's start at the top, before anyone anywhere could imagine any beef between these two, other than a celebratory steak
00:35dinner.
00:36In 2012, Morey traded for sixth man of the year James Harden.
00:40He seemingly knew, before anyone else, that the guy coming off the bench behind Durant and Westbrook on the Western
00:46Conference champion Thunder was going to be very, very good.
00:50And James Harden seemingly knew that Morey was onto something with his new, radical approach to the game of basketball.
00:57Morey loved analytics and devised Moreyball, a style of basketball based in math and probability, which is another kind of
01:06math, actually, that contends that three-pointers are worth more than two-pointers, so everyone needs to stop taking long
01:13twos.
01:14Only threes and layups or dunks were worthwhile, corner threes being the most worthwhile, because the corners are closer to
01:21the basket than anywhere else along the arc.
01:24And James Harden said, sure, I'm in.
01:27Which is a bigger deal than it may seem.
01:30Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni explained it as spending his time coaching instead of convincing.
01:35Not only did Harden buy in, he was also good at Moreyball.
01:40He could drive and roll to hit layups, he could step back to hit threes, and he could make space
01:45for his teammates to hit those corner threes.
01:47The Rockets broke records and broke them again.
01:51They saw two Western Conference finals berths, Harden racked up individual awards, and Morey was crowned basketball's nerd king.
01:59He was executive of the year in 2018, too.
02:02I want to just emphasize the word nerd here, because it segues nicely into this little tidbit.
02:08In 2018, Morey produced a musical called Small Ball, about an analytics-obsessed executive trying to change the game of
02:16basketball.
02:17The fact that Harden, who parties with rappers, would get along with a musical theater-loving GM, really speaks to
02:25the uniqueness and strength of their bond.
02:27Or, maybe not, they both like music.
02:31Morey and Harden worked in tandem off the court as well, to the extent that Morey said the Rockets treated
02:37Harden like an owner.
02:38You hear a lot of rumors and theories about star players calling the shots on their team, but rarely does
02:44the GM freely admit that's what's going on.
02:48Harden helped with recruiting efforts, and Morey sang his praises.
02:51Morey fucking loved James Harden.
02:54He once said, without prompting, that Harden was a better scorer than Michael Jordan.
02:59He had some mathy reasons for saying so, and maybe he's right in that context.
03:03But to say that when no one was debating it, while wearing a t-shirt featuring James Harden's face, shows
03:11a strong level of love.
03:13As does commissioning a life-size portrait of someone and hanging it in your home.
03:19It may seem a bit much, but maybe I've just never had a real friend before.
03:23And I certainly haven't had such an impactful friendship before.
03:27By the end of Morey's time in Houston, Harden was a superstar, one of the best in the league, and
03:32Morey was the nerd king of basketball.
03:35Without Harden's success, he wouldn't be king.
03:37And perhaps without Morey's system, Harden would be known as an easily disgruntled star who doesn't play defense and collapses
03:45in the playoffs.
03:46Whoops, getting ahead of myself.
03:48Or maybe I'm not, because you might be wondering why their time together ever came to an end.
03:54But, well, they never won a title.
03:56They never even made it to the finals.
03:59The Harden-Morey Rockets simply couldn't get past the Warriors.
04:02They might have if Chris Paul hadn't gotten hurt, or Harden hadn't...
04:06What's the opposite of stepped up?
04:09Thug a little hole to fall into, belly first?
04:13In the summer of 2020, Morey left the Rockets.
04:15And when he did, he took out a full-page newspaper ad to thank the city and the team.
04:20Specifically thanking James Harden for changing his life.
04:24Then he headed to the 76ers.
04:26James headed to the Nets that fall after getting a little ornery, possibly wearing a fat suit and forcing a
04:34trade.
04:35In the middle of the following season, Harden again got a little ornery, donned no costumes, but still forced another
04:42trade to...
04:43Dun-dun-dun-dun!
04:44The 76ers.
04:47Reunited.
04:47Now, there was a negative narrative about Harden brewing.
04:53But Morey did not care.
04:56The Nerd King was convinced that the former MVP, despite his advanced age and baggage, was Philly's missing piece.
05:03Just pair him up with Joel Embiid and enjoy the trip to Titletown.
05:07And Harden seemed like he had finally found his landing spot.
05:10The Sixers did not win a title in 2020.
05:15And Harden did not live up to expectations.
05:18He wasn't the missing piece.
05:20And Morey would need to get additional pieces that summer.
05:24To do so, he'd need more cap space.
05:26And his old pal Harden stepped up, taking a $15 million pay cut, which allowed the team to sign P
05:33.J. Tucker and Daniel House, two more former Rockets.
05:36Now, a lot of people thought Harden's old pal Morey would repay him the $15 million, and then some, with
05:42a maximum contract the following year.
05:44It would, of course, be against the rules to promise that, but as long as they didn't write anything down,
05:50it was all good.
05:51The aging star took to the press to proclaim his sacrifice and selflessness in the pursuit of a title.
05:57Which caused a lot of eye-rolling, because, one, the assumption that Morey would take care of him later, and
06:03two, he hadn't played well.
06:07Also, it's a little disingenuous to just say, he's taken a pay cut, what a great dude.
06:12If he hadn't signed this new contract with Philly, he'd make $15 million more in the 22-23 season, true.
06:20But, he'd be a free agent the following year.
06:23And if he kept on his downward, being a pill trajectory, would he really be able to get more than
06:29$35.6 million on the free market?
06:32Not to mention, the contract had an opt-out clause, so if he somehow fought back father time and had
06:38a really good 22-23 season,
06:41he could collect a long-term max deal from whatever team felt he earned it, or had secretly already promised
06:47it to him.
06:48Which, kind of looked like what would happen.
06:51He was playing well enough that he was garnering interest from other teams, specifically the Rockets.
06:57Which had to make Morey a little bummed, until the playoffs, which made the GM more than a little bummed
07:04for a very different reason.
07:06The Sixers were out in the second round after blowing a 3-2 lead to Boston.
07:11They lost Game 7 by 24 points.
07:15That's all embarrassing enough, but take a look at how Harden personally contributed to the embarrassment.
07:21And it gets worse, actually.
07:23He shot four air balls in Game 7.
07:26While missing a layup, he got called for a flagrant for needlessly smashing the face of Jalen Brown,
07:31who had recently recovered from a facial fracture.
07:34The Philadelphia Inquirer said of Harden's performance,
07:38What humiliation, what disgrace.
07:41The Rockets were no longer interested in James Harden.
07:45Nobody was interested in James Harden.
07:48Good thing Harden had his best bud to rely on.
07:51It's always good to have a friend to talk to when you're feeling low.
07:55And if you're talking about a max contract that you absolutely could not get anywhere else,
08:00that'll probably cheer you up, too.
08:02But after the playoffs, Morey didn't reach out to Harden.
08:06At all.
08:07In the past, the two would gab constantly after the season.
08:10But this year, Morey ghosted the guy who changed his life.
08:16Beef time.
08:17No, no, no, no, no, no, claimed Morey.
08:20He was just trying to avoid tampering fines.
08:22He'd gotten in trouble just a season earlier for talking to Tucker and House too early,
08:26so he was being extra careful.
08:29Really, Morey?
08:30It didn't have anything to do with the fact that you didn't want to give Harden the four-year,
08:36$210 million contract he was expecting because maybe you had told him he could have it?
08:42It certainly wasn't the nicest way to send a message.
08:45The city of Philadelphia did not blame Morey and would not have if he'd taken even harsher tactics.
08:52They looked at Harden and said,
08:58Besides, it's not in Morey's character to provide a sweetheart deal to a friend even though it doesn't look good
09:05on paper.
09:06Morey loves paper.
09:08That's what data's printed on.
09:10Harden read between the non-lines he was getting from Morey and inferred that he was not getting a max
09:15deal.
09:15And since no other team wanted to pay him either, he opted into his 23-24 contract with Philly for
09:22$35.6 million.
09:24But he requested a trade, specifically to the Clippers.
09:28And we know that Harden has a way of making trade requests compelling.
09:32He started small.
09:34In July, he scrubbed his social media bios of references to the Sixers.
09:38Then he made an Instagram post that's open to interpretation,
09:41but sure seemed to be a threat to Morey.
09:45Especially because a source said Harden was planning to make the Sixers as uncomfortable as possible until they traded him.
09:52So, what was Morey gonna do?
09:55His 33-year-old point guard was declining, but remember those regular season stats?
10:01He wasn't a scrub either.
10:03Morey couldn't just trade him for nothing.
10:05He had to get back someone who could lead the league in a category.
10:08Someone who could drop 45 points a game sometimes.
10:11Someone who could be Joel Embiid's co-star.
10:14But the rest of the league, mainly LA, wasn't eager to give up a whole lot for an old,
10:20ornery playoff choker who sometimes dropped 45 points a game.
10:25On August 12, 2023, Morey announced that the 76ers had ended trade talks involving James Harden.
10:32Two days later, while at a promotional event in China,
10:35Harden called Morey a liar and said he would not play for him.
10:40Morey defended himself and kept his response calm and diplomatic.
10:45But Harden's accusation was big.
10:48For a bunch of reasons.
10:50First, it seemed a one-of-a-kind friendship was dead, so that's sad.
10:54Second of all, accusing Morey while in China may have been pointed,
10:58because Daryl Morey angered the Chinese government quite a bit back in 2019 when he tweeted in support of Hong
11:04Kong.
11:05And most of all, the NBA was like,
11:08What's that?
11:09What did your GM lie about, James?
11:12Was it an illegal deal to give you a max contract?
11:14And do we now need to fine the hell out of him and ruin the Sixers' future with penalties?
11:20The NBA launched an investigation into Harden's comments,
11:23but found no need for the crushing hammer of justice.
11:27Couldn't have been a very thorough investigation,
11:29because fast forward to December,
11:32and Harden did admit Morey had promised him that illegal deal.
11:35But let's back up a bit.
11:37Harden said he wouldn't play for Morey.
11:40Morey had not traded him,
11:42and the 23-24 season was starting.
11:45Harden skipped media day.
11:47He skipped the first day of training camp.
11:49Hey, the no-show act got him out of Houston, remember?
11:53Why wouldn't it get him out of Philly?
11:55Well, because the CBA said it wouldn't.
11:58The fine print had pretty harsh consequences
12:00for a vet in the last year of his contract withholding services.
12:04So fine, he came to training camp.
12:06But he didn't play.
12:08And he didn't make up with Morey.
12:10In Med-October, he said the trust between them was lost.
12:14And that had pretty dire consequences for a guy like James Harden.
12:18He returned Morey's post-playoff silent treatment the best he could,
12:22making the GM go through his agent for all communication.
12:26He rarely even spoke Morey's name in public.
12:29Harden told the press he might be ready to play by the team's final preseason game,
12:34but instead ditched the team for 10 days.
12:38Morey didn't speak on the subject,
12:40but Philadelphia's blood was boiling.
12:43And it's possible the GM was feeling some heat as well,
12:47either from external sources or his own heart.
12:50There was speculation his legacy was riding on this Harden situation.
12:55The Sixers told the former MVP to stay home for the season opener.
12:59But he showed up at the airport,
13:02bags packed and Dramamine ingested,
13:04and security had to send him away.
13:08This was the moment the beef started to burn.
13:10Not in a charring, mmm, smoky kind of way.
13:13In a goddammit, get the fire extinguisher kind of way.
13:17Two days after the airport incident,
13:19Morey resumed trade talks.
13:21Three days after that,
13:23Harden was a clipper.
13:24Morey's legacy wasn't wrecked.
13:26He did pretty good considering his tight spot.
13:28And Harden got to go where he wanted.
13:31So, could these former pals
13:34put a few years of Philadelphia unpleasantness behind them
13:37and refocus on the good old days of scoring titles,
13:40of wearing t-shirts with Harden's face,
13:43of evolving the game they loved
13:45and building their illustrious careers together?
13:47Yep, I'm sure of it,
13:49said Morey,
13:50gazing at his life-sized Harden portrait.
13:53And James?
13:55Absolutely not,
13:56said Harden,
13:57sitting before a plate
13:58of steaming hot beef.
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