Windhorst Believes James Harden Won't Play for 76ers After No-Show amid Trade Rumors

After James Harden no-showed practice with the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on Thursday's episode of First Take that he believes the veteran guard will never play for the team again.

"They had a long practice scheduled, it was gonna be a nice, long, exciting practice, ramp-up... [Joel] Embiid was ready to go, and then we see he shows the cards. Now, he's done," Windhorst said around the 1:37 mark. "So now Stephen A., I now am back to believing we will never see him in red, white and blue again. He's bunkered down."

Prior to his absence on Wednesday, Harden had been with the Sixers during training camp, though he reportedly has only done individual work and hasn't scrimmaged. The 34-year-old has made no secret of his unhappiness that Philadelphia has yet to fulfill his trade request to the Los Angeles Clippers, but he told reporters last week that his "plan is to play basketball, yes, for sure."

Windhorst went on to add that this sudden change in course should come as no surprise, because it's a formula that has worked out for Harden in the past when he wanted to be traded away from the Houston Rockets and the Brooklyn Nets:

"I don't blame him for this, because this is what he did in Houston when he wanted to go to Brooklyn, and he got his way. It's what he did in Brooklyn, he basically stopped playing... Got to Philadelphia, and he's doing it again. So why wouldn't he? This script has worked before. And now I'm wondering if that whole two weeks with the Sixers was just a charade to mess with them. I don't know, but if he did do that, my compliments to him on that too, because he actually had the Sixers convinced he was gonna play."

ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne reported that the Sixers "plan to give Harden the chance to explain this 'unexcused absence' before deciding how to handle any punishment."

Despite the Sixers and Clippers re-engaging in trade discussions recently, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski noted that "a sizable gap remains" in negotiations and "there's been little movement for months on a deal."

It remains to be seen if Harden's latest antics will be enough to grant his wish of being traded again before the Sixers open the 2023-24 season next Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks.