The Los Angeles Clippers have officially acquired James Harden in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, and now Harden shares his thoughts on his time with the Sixers.

In Playa Vista, the Los Angeles Clippers held an official introduction for their newly acquired guard, James Harden, who previously played for the Sixers. The media room at their practice facility was more packed than ever, with reporters eager to uncover the details of what transpired with the Philadelphia 76ers and how the dynamic will unfold alongside Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook.

“Me leaving Brooklyn and thinking I’m going to retire as a Sixer, and the front office had other plans,” James Harden told reporters during his introductory press conference. “They didn’t want me, and it is that simple. There’s more detail, more to where I can’t talk about, but there’s a lot of narratives and I don’t have social media, but there’s a lot of narratives and people talking than just they have people think they have an opinion or voice and other people listen to it, know what I mean? But none of that is true.”

Last offseason, James Harden made a highly team-friendly decision, enabling the Philadelphia 76ers to create space for incoming free agents PJ Tucker and Danuel House. The expectation was that he would be presented with a long-term max contract offer this offseason and would accept it.

However, just a few days before the commencement of free agency and his opt-in deadline for the final year of his contract, Harden chose to exercise the option for the 2023-24 season, valued at $35.6 million, as he sensed that a new max contract offer was not forthcoming.

Harden’s trade demand became unusually public, standing out as he formally requested a trade from the Sixers prior to the summer’s free agency period. Throughout the summer and into the training camp, he remained unwavering in his desire to be traded to one specific team: the LA Clippers.

And Harden says he’s coming in with a team-first approach.

“Whatever T-Lue and the coaching staff needs me to do,” Harden added. “I’ve been prepared and been in both situations, whether me scoring 15, 16 points or scoring 30, as long as we win the game and everybody’s feeling confident and good about themselves, that’s all that really matters.”

Harden further elaborated, expressing that he felt somewhat constrained during his tenure with the Sixers under the leadership of head coach Doc Rivers.

“Then Philly is just changing my role, knowing I can give more, knowing I can do more, but if you want to be honest, being on a leash and me knowing in order for us to get where we want to get to, I was going to have to be playing my best offensively, whether it’s facilitating and scoring the basketball and Joel [Embiid] as well. And I never really had that opportunity. So, I think all that plays into where I am today where.”

“When I’m in a leash, I’m not just shooting the basketball every time. I meant like I think the game and I’m a creator on the court, you know what I mean? So if I got a voice to where I can say, ‘hey, coach, I see this. What you think about this?’ Then it’s like, okay, somebody that trusts me, that believes in me, that understands me, that I’m just not, I’m not a system player. I am a system. So somebody that can have that dialogue with me and understand and move forward and figure out and make adjustments on the fly throughout the course of games, that’s all I really care about. It’s not about me scoring a basketball, scoring 34 points. I’ve done that already. So that’s what I meant by that.”

Before his scheduled media availability on Thursday, James Harden engaged in a preparatory practice session with a few of the Clippers’ reserves, causing a nearly 55-minute delay from the originally planned time for his appearance. Remarkably, despite his recent trade to the team late on Monday night, Harden had already dedicated time to reviewing Clippers’ game footage and had joined them on the court to analyze their strategies and operational tactics.

“I think that the system that we have is really good. I’ve been watching the games and for me it’s just staying locked in, whether it’s defensively or offensively, knowing what we’re doing, knowing what our schemes are and making sure that I’m doing the best job that I can do and controlling what I control. And so that’s just being the best version of myself watching the film. I mean consistently communicating with coaches and teammates and trying to figure out how can I be great on both ends of the ball. It’s going to take some time. Hopefully not too much time, but I’m pretty sure I know what I’m doing.”

When prompted to provide more details on why he sought to leave the Sixers and pinpoint the specific moment that triggered this desire, Harden explained that it was a combination of several factors that played a role in his decision.

Harden expanded on his departure from the Sixers, stating, “[There were] a few different reasons, but that last situation in Philly, those fans were really, really great. Teammates were great. Leaving Brooklyn, which was a funky situation, and going to Philly, leaving a lot of money on the table from Brooklyn, going to [the Sixers] — once again last summer — taking $26 million less to be able to sign and make the team better and organization better.”

“Changing my role, which media says is ball dominant, and my ball dominance is really effective. But changing my role, I mean trying to change the narrative, trying to sacrifice and do whatever it takes to win at the highest level, whatever people talk about and say — I just want to win at the highest level. So taking less money, sacrificing the — that’s not talked about. It’s talked about the other BS. And it just didn’t work out.

“I’m not the type to go back and forth or be explaining to myself because you’re always going to take something out of what I say and make it into a different story. So long story short, I’m happy I’m here. I’m excited to be able to show how good individually, how good this team can be and is going to be.”

James Harden now faces the challenge of determining how the dynamic will function alongside Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook. While the recurring themes in the media availabilities of the latter three players were centered around phrases like ‘it’s just one ball’ and ‘it’s going to be a process,’ Harden refrained from delving too deeply into his perspective on how things will come together.

“I think obviously they’re already a really good team. I think the coaching staff is really, really good as well. Then I’m back home. So I just think the comfort level of me being back home around family and then having some really, really, really good players on this team. And then, you know, basically all four dudes from California.

“This is a unique story. So with all that coming together, it just made sense.”

James Harden’s debut appearance as a member of the LA Clippers is set for Monday when they face the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.