James Harden proved his loyalty to the Philadelphia 76ers when he decided to take a major pay cut in order to help the Sixers with their salary cap situation. The former league MVP declined his player option for the 2022-23 season and the $47 million he was supposed to earn with it. Instead, Harden decided to sign a new two-year deal worth $68 million.
Harden is now going to earn an average of $34 million per year, which represents a massive $13 million discount for the Sixers for the upcoming season. The team can now use this money to add one or two additional players without having to deal with a substantial luxury tax penalty.
If you ask former All-Star Gilbert Arenas, however, he firmly believes that this wasn't the right decision by Harden. Arenas argues that Harden shouldn't be worrying about luxury tax issues when this should be the concern of the team owner (h/t Charles Eluemuno of sportskeeda):
“Don't take no pay cut to win,” Arenas said. “That ain't your job. That is not your job to take a pay cut to win. You got to remember you're a millionaire taking a pay cut for a billionaire, that don't even sound right. You're a millionaire taking a pay cut for a billionaire right? Like, don't you want to be a billionaire?”
Currently, the listed majority owners of the Sixers are Joshua Harris and David S. Blitzer, who are reportedly worth $7.05 and $1.3 billion, respectively. James Harden, on the other hand, has a listed net worth of $165 million. If you look at it from Arenas' perspective then you might say that the man actually has a point here.
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