James Harden did not show up for the Philadelphia 76ers in their crucial Game 6 showdown with the Miami Heat, but according to Amar'e Stoudemire, the one-time NBA MVP did it intentionally as a form of protest against Doc Rivers.
The former Houston Rockets scorer made just 11 points after taking a measly nine shot attempts–something that you wouldn't expect from a superstar in a do-or-die game. The Sixers guard also just took two shots in the second half of the contest, as if he already gave up even before the buzzer sounded.
Philly ended up losing 99-90, which put an end to their playoffs run that many expected to go the distance.
Stoudemire, however, expressed belief that Harden simply didn't like Rivers as his head coach and shut down because of it.
“I think it did look intentional, right?” Stoudemire shared during an appearance on ESPN's First Take. “Because it seems like James doesn’t want Doc as the head coach. And he has history of if he doesn’t like something, he will shut down. And we saw last night that he shut down.”
Sure enough, fans and experts alike have been talking about how it looked like James Harden played poorly for the Sixers on purpose. After all, for a man who has averaged almost 20 shot attempts per game during his time in Houston, he certainly knows a variety of ways to put the ball up and into the basket.
If that is true, though, then things might be difficult for the Sixers. Team exec Daryl Morey has already made it clear that Doc Rivers will remain the team's head coach, while Harden is also in Philly to stay as they look to see what he can do after a full season with the franchise.
Whatever the case may be, the Sixers will still have to make some tough decisions this offseason.
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