Why did Kevin McHale get fired by the Houston Rockets? Story behind James Harden getting a coach fired explored

Philadelphia 76ers star guard James Harden has garnered a reputation for being difficult to manage over his 14-year NBA career.

After forcing his way out of Houston and Brooklyn in recent years, Harden is now reportedly willing to do whatever it takes to get traded by Philly. That comes as Harden has made it publicly known that he's frustrated with Sixers president Daryl Morey over failed maximum contract extension negotiations.

Given his track record, few were surprised by Harden’s latest trade request, including his former Rockets coach, Kevin McHale:

“Yeah, not so much,” McHale told Heavy Sports.

McHale coached Harden in Houston from 2012 to 2015 before being fired just 11 games into the 2015-16 season. The Rockets started 4-7 at the time after making the 2015 Western Conference finals the previous season. However, according to McHale, Houston's poor start was due to a deliberate tanking effort from Harden.

McHale said that Harden’s animosity toward him started in Game 6 of the 2015 West semifinals against the LA Clippers. The Clippers were up 3-2 over the Rockets at the time when McHale opted to bench Harden in the fourth quarter.

Houston went on to win Game 6 as well as Game 7 to advance to the conference finals. However, according to McHale, Harden never let it go. As a result, Harden allegedly showed up to training camp out of shape and provided minimal effort to get his coach fired:

“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.

“He had a plan.”

During his tenure in Houston, including one year before Harden’s arrival, McHale finished with a respectable coaching record of 193-130 (.598). However, he has yet to receive another coaching opportunity since being fired by the Rockets in 2015.

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Kevin McHale defends Daryl Morey amid feud with James Harden

Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey and former Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale

During his interview with Heavy Sports, Kevin McHale also spoke about Daryl Morey, who was the Rockets’ general manager during his time in Houston.

McHale defended Morey against recent allegations that he lied to James Harden in contract negotiations. McHale instead said that it was likely that the Sixers ownership decided not to offer Harden a maximum extension:

“I’ve been involved in a million meetings as a coach and GM, and, you know, players hear what they want to hear a lot of times. And Daryl’s smart,” McHale said.

He continued:

“My whole take on the thing is I think Daryl’s really hooked up with James, but I think ownership looked at it. Let’s face it: if the owner looks at you and says, ‘We’re signing that dude,’ you’re signing that dude. Story’s over. And if the owner looks at you and says, ‘We’re not signing that dude,’ you’re not signing him.

“James wanted a big extension from Philly, and Philly wouldn’t give it to him, and that’s not a Daryl decision. Daryl’s got a part of that, of course, but that’s an owner decision.”

McHale then took a subtle shot at James Harden. He said that Harden’s poor playoff performance in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston possibly played a role in Philly’s decision. Harden finished with just nine points on 27.3% shooting in that game as the Sixers got blown out 112-88:

“So (Harden) was really mad, saying Daryl lied to him, but, you know, maybe they saw Game 7 against the Celtics and said, ‘I’m not interested in that.’” McHale said.

McHale concluded by saying that Morey is a tough negotiator, so James Harden may have to wait a while before finding a new home:

“I think Daryl would have probably tried to extend him and keep everything happy,” McHale said. “But as far as trading him goes, you know, Daryl gets stubborn. It’s going to be interesting.”