“Tyrese loves Big Fella, but this is the elephant in the room,” said the unnamed source to corroborate the recent leak that has made headlines in the NBA world. As the Philadelphia 76ers were continuing to deal with his precarious position, it didn’t help the situation when details emerged of a reported verbal altercation between Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, with the latter placing part of the blame for the 76ers’ then 2-11 record on the center. Other players from rival teams have not chosen to be too open in their view of whether Embiid is to blame for his squad’s losses. However, did James Harden at least make a subtle hint about it?

In the aftermath of the LA Clippers’ 125-99 win against the Philadelphia 76ers, ‘The Beard’ took some questions. Tyrese Maxey’s name soon popped up when asked whether Harden found it surprising that his rival was “speaking up, using his voice a bit more.” When confirmed that the Clippers point guard was playing as his 5 player, Harden outright stated that only one thing may have caused Maxey to develop his sense of confidence: higher pay.

“They’ve got the money. Money comes with a lot of responsibilities, whether it is using your voice, going out there on a night-to-night basis, and producing,” said Harden. “That comes with the package, and for him, I’ve seen it growing, and he’s on the opportunity to be there.”

Why would this have come as a subtle hit at Joel Embiid? Well, for one thing, it was only two months ago when the 76ers Center signed a three-year extension. The same would pay him a whopping $193 million over the period. According to Statmuse, this would increase his salary to $64.302 million during the 2027-28 season. Furthermore, he is set to earn $69.065 million during the 2028-29 season. Unless another player comes in to claim a bigger contract, Embiid may become the highest-paid NBA player during those seasons.

However, despite earning the big (actually, the biggest) bucks, the player is unable to rise up to the occasion. Out of the 16 games that his team has played this season, Joel Embiid has appeared in only, wait for it, 4 games! His absences have mostly been marked due to injury woes. In the 4 games which he played in, Embiid averaged 19.5 points, and even scored 35 points in his most recent appearance. Despite this, the Philadelphia 76ers managed to lose all 4 of them. To make things worse, the player will miss out on more games now due to swelling in his left knee. Due to this, the 30-year-old Cameroonian may not be on the good sights of either the squad, nor their fans.

In Embiid’s absence, Tyrese Maxey has been stepping up quite a bit. He has made 10 appearances during the regular season, started in all 10 games, and averaged 24.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists. This was the foundation that James Harden needed to indicate that it’s time for Maxey to step up now. After all, if the past is any indication, then ‘The Beard’ has always held a certain level of confidence towards his rival.

James Harden used Tyrese Maxey’s $204 million contract to motivate players: “Put the work in”

James Harden was with the Philadelphia 76ers for one season. Therefore, he got a first-hand account of which player stands out on top. If Harden had some confidence in Tyrese Maxey, the franchise would have been to. After all, nothing else could have convinced them to give the player a whopping 5-year, $203.85 million contract extension earlier this year. This was an impressive achievement, and the 2018 MVP wanted to make use of it to motivate others.

Back in August, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey teamed up as part of the ‘Rico Hines runs’ program at UCLA. During the same, the now Clippers player went on to give a speech to the students. He stated “I got the pleasure & opportunity to be with Tyrese two years ago. He work his a*s off. What did you just sign for?” Maxey replied “$204 million”. Harden again turned towards the young players and said “Bank! Cherish it. Put the work in. The results will pay off later.”

Despite having left the Philadelphia 76ers on not so good terms, James Harden may still care about the franchise. Especially now, with the 76ers now on a 3-13 win record. Therefore, the veteran may just be doing his part in nudging the team towards making a much-needed change.