James Harden wants to be team's No. 1 option?

The 76ers gave James Harden an unexpected olive branch on Saturday. The team tweeted “happy birthday @JHarden13” for the 10-time All-Star guard, who was recently fined $100,000 by the NBA for his public comments made while on at a press event with Adidas in China -via New York Post / August 26, 2023

On his Maxey on the Mic podcast, the 22-year-old guard dove into what he makes of the Harden situation and how everyone on the team will have to adjust — most importantly Maxey himself. In typical Maxey fashion, he starts the pod off by talking about how great his summer has been and how much work he’s gotten in. He quickly pivoted to the “elephant in the room” and his high-profile teammate demanding a trade out of Philadelphia. “I will say this about the situation: to each his own. James, he’s a professional and he’s doing something for a reason. You just have to kind of sit back and understand what he’s doing as a friend, but then as a teammate and someone as a part of an organization I’m with right now, you have to prepare for whether James is going to be there or not going to be there. That’s just the nature of it.” -via LibertyBallers.com / August 25, 2023

It’s been a very easy parallel to make between the current situation and the Ben Simmons holdout back in 2021. The key difference: this current group would welcome Harden back with open arms. Though Maxey himself had a strong relationship with Simmons, the same cannot be said for the rest of his teammates. “It’s crazy to say this, but it’s not our first rodeo, honestly. That’s funny to say, but that’s life. James is his own individual and he’s able to do whatever he pleases. I’m preparing right now to play with him or without him. … and I love James. If James decided he’s going to come back and play for us, there’s nobody in this organization that would be upset about that.” -via LibertyBallers.com / August 25, 2023