Harden to Clippers

James Harden publicly called his boss a liar and swore he would never again play for the Philadelphia 76ers. So he won’t. The 10-time All-Star with a history of trade demands is on the move to his fifth NBA team with a trade announced in the early hours of Tuesday. Even though the trade is not finalized, Harden arrived in Los Angeles before Tuesday’s night’s game against the Orlando Magic. He was greeted by owner Steve Ballmer when he arrived at Crypto.com Arena and then met with his new teammates in the locker room. His No. 1 blue jersey was ready and waiting for him at his locker. When asked by a reporter if he was excited about coming to the Clippers, Harden said, “You don’t understand.” Clippers Coach Tyronn Lue, who did his pregame availability 45 minutes before Hard- en’s arrival, had no comment about the imminent deal. Philadelphia Coach Nick Nurse danced around the topic of the trade following practice, but the key parts were this: the 76ers sent Harden, P.J. Tucker and Filip Petrusev to Los Angeles for Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, Nic Batum, K.J. Martin, a 2028 unprotected first-round draft pick, two second-round picks, a 2029 draft-pick swap and an additional first-rounder from a third team, a person familiar with the trade told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the final details of the trade were not yet official.

Embiid fined for gesture

Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid has been fined $35,000 by the NBA for repeatedly making an obscene gesture during the 76ers’ victory against the Portland Trail Blazers. Joe Dumars, the league’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations, announced the penalty Tuesday after Embiid, the league’s reigning MVP, made four WWEstyle crotch chops that sent the crowd into a frenzy Sunday.