Kevin McHale: James Harden Showed Up 'Fat' in 2015, Had 'Plan' After Rockets Benching

As the Philadelphia 76ers look to navigate an awkward situation with James Harden, one of his former head coaches shared his experience of working with the 2017-18 NBA MVP at a point when he was disgruntled.

Kevin McHale, who coached the Houston Rockets for four full seasons before being replaced early in the 2015-16 season, told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com that Harden "had a plan" to get him fired after the 2015 playoffs.

"The next year he came to camp, he was fat and didn't feel like playing, and I got fired (11) games into the season," McHale said.

Bulpett noted problems between Harden and McHale had been brewing for some time, particularly after the coach benched Harden for the fourth quarter of Game 6 against the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference Semifinals.

The Rockets outscored the Clippers 40-15 in that quarter to win the game and extend the series to seven games. The won the decisive game before losing to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.

In the 11 games McHale coached to start the 2015-16 season, Harden was still scoring a lot of points (27.3 per game), but he shot only 37.2 percent from the field during that span and averaged just 5.8 assists per contest.

After J.B. Bickerstaff took over, Harden increased his scoring average (29.2 points), assists (7.7), field-goal percentage (45.0) and three-point percentage (37.7) over the final 71 games.

The Sixers may be facing a similar situation now that they have decided to end trade talks for the 10-time All-Star and go into training camp with him on the roster, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Harden publicly vented his frustration with the 76ers in the wake of their decision to end trade talks. President of basketball operations Daryl Morey was the target of Harden's ire during an Adidas media event in China.

"Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he's a part of," Harden said Monday. "Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he's a part of."

Harden picked up his $35.6 million player option for the 2023-24 season with the intention of working with the 76ers to find a trade, per Wojnarowski. The 33-year-old led the NBA with 10.7 assists per game and averaged 21.0 points per contest in 58 starts for Philadelphia last season.

The 76ers finished third in the Eastern Conference with a 54-28 record during the 2022-23 regular season, but they lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Boston Celtics.