"Fans ain't gonna have him": Former 76er Charles Barkley drills James Harden for lack of etiquette
Charles Barkley sees that James Harden won't be accepted by the fans after all his actions during his multiple trade requests.
In recent reports, Harden has already returned to practice after a 10-day hiatus and wanted to play for the Sixers on their first regular season game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Having heard this, Barkley, being a player who broke into the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers, said he sees Harden being unwanted by the Sixers fanbase just like what happened to Ben Simmons two seasons ago.
"James Harden can't come back to Philly," Barkley said on "Inside the NBA." "The fans ain't going to have him. He can't treat the city of Philadelphia like that. They can't forgive and forget. I said the same thing with Ben Simmons when they were trying like 'We want Ben Simmons back.' They are not going to take him back."
Charles Barkley, who played for the Sixers for eight seasons, said that Harden's actions are unjust.
"When you play for a team, you have an obligation to the fan base," Barkley said. "They didn't show up for work for 10 days. You can't just take time off and you are unhappy with you not getting traded."
Charles Barkley puts the James Harden fiasco on Daryl Morey
With the trade talks going on for months, Charles Barkley puts the blame on Philadelphia team president Daryl Morey for asking the moon and the stars for James Harden, who has less value than Morey thinks.
"First of all, Daryl Morey screwed this thing up, too," Barkley said. "James Harden has one year left on his deal. The notion that he going to get a bucket load of picks and players, they have a guy who is going on a team for one year, he is not going to get a good deal. He got to make the best deal possible."
By waiting for the "perfect: deal to trade Harden, Barkley sees the Sixers already missing out on potential players who can replace the disgruntled player.
"If they had traded James Harden a month ago or three weeks ago, they might have been in the sweepstakes to get Jrue Holiday," Barkley said. "Now, they have nothing they can do."
After playing at the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night, the Philadelphia 76ers will next travel to Canada and battle the Toronto Raptors. Their first home game is slated for Oct. 29 against the Portland Trail Blazers.