Doc Rivers gets painfully honest on his relationship with James Harden before his departure from the Philadelphia 76ers, noting that they weren't really that close.

Rivers was fired from the Sixers this 2023 offseason following Philly's loss to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Before that, though, He was able to coach Harden for one and half season after the All-Star guard arrived in Philly in the middle of the 2021-22 campaign from the Brooklyn Nets.

Despite having over a year together, however, Rivers wasn't able to develop a strong relationship with Harden. He did emphasize that it wasn't that “bad” and what they had was an “honest relationship.”

“It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t good. It was pretty much neutral,” Rivers shared. “It was an honest relationship at the end of the day. I was very honest. I really believe there's ways you have to play to win and, obviously, I was never willing to compromise on that. It was a relationship of communication. I can tell you, we talked when we needed to talk all the time.”

What Doc Rivers said about him being “never willing to compromise” is particularly interesting, though. When James Harden joined Philly, he transitioned from being a scorer tasked with carrying massive workload into a playmaker playing second fiddle to Joel Embiid.

It was a successful change for Harden, who was the NBA's assists leader in 2022-23 with 10.7 per game. What's unknown is if Harden was actually happy with his role or not. But considering his recent trade demand to get out of Philly, it's safe to assume his situation wasn't all that great for him.

Of course it's all in the past now and Doc Rivers' thoughts on James Harden does nothing but shed light on the behind the scenes of the guard's stint with the Sixers. Perhaps things would  be different had he and the superstar had a better relationship, but there's no use crying over spilled milk.

It remains to be seen if the Philadelphia franchise will be able to trade The Beard before the 2023-24 season starts, but so far, they haven't made much progress in that regard.