James Harden: 'People Were Throwing Dirt on My Name, but the Good Guys Always Win'

Few NBA players have received more criticism from fans and commentators than James Harden in recent years as he bounced around from the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers.

But the future Hall of Famer doesn't seem to be sweating it.

"People were throwing dirt on my name, but the good guys always win," he said in an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic.

At this point, Harden's reputation is one of a player who forced his way out of Houston, wanted a trade away from Brooklyn and expected the 76ers to move him this past offseason.

While his individual talent is undeniable and he is on his way to the Hall of Fame one day, all of his various tenures have ended without a championship and with somewhat acrimonious splits. That has led to much of the criticism, as has some of his postseason shortcomings throughout his career.

His future was once again under the spotlight this past offseason, as his relationship with 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey publicly deteriorated.

Most notably, Harden publicly called Morey, whom he was also with in Houston, a "liar" and was fined $100,000 by the league for some of his public remarks.

His comment about people throwing dirt on his name came in a larger discussion with Amick about his relationship with Morey:

"Yeah. It surprised the hell out of me, you know what I mean? I looked at it like a marriage. We talked about a lot of s—. And we've got a lot of s— that, in front of people's eyes, you don't know or understand. But instead of (Morey) having a conversation with me (about free agency) or saying, 'All right James, we don't want to offer you this, but we have this.' Then we go back and forth, and that's a dialogue. But you just ice me out? Then it's like, you don't respect me as much as I thought you did. You don't need people like that, you know what I mean? So it's just bad karma. People were throwing dirt on my name, but the good guys always win."

Harden also said "there's nothing to talk about" when asked if he has been in touch with Morey.

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported last month that Harden opted into his $35.6 million player option for this season and asked for a trade because he believed Morey and the 76ers were going to offer him just a two-year deal with a team option in an effort to make him a year-to-year player instead of a larger extension.

He was eventually moved to the Clippers, where he is pursuing the first championship of his career alongside Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook.

If he doesn't get it, there will probably be more people waiting to criticize him again.