James Harden of the Brooklyn Nets shoots against Garrett Temple of the New Orleans Pelicans on January 15, 2022 in New York City. Photo: VCG

After Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden slammed the team's president Daryl Morey a liar, his comments received unexpected support from Chinese fans.

"Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he's a part of," Harden said during a commercial event in Beijing on Monday. 

"Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he's a part of," he continued.

According to NBA.com, Harden made these comments in response to a question from the crowd regarding ending trade talks, a request which he made more than six weeks ago. He preferred the Los Angeles Clippers, but negotiations didn't go as expected. 

A video on Douyin, China's largest video sharing platform, that captured this moment has gone viral online. 

In the video, fans at the scene were heard cheering for Harden after his words, and applauding to show their support to the basketball player. 

On Sina Weibo, the hashtag "Harden called Morey a liar" had elicited more than 15 million views by Tuesday noon.

A popular post on Sina Weibo read, "Why did he have to wait and say these words when he traveled to China? Because he knew he'd have everyone's support here." 

Along with the post was a photo showing emotional fans holding Chinese national flags and banners denouncing Morey.  

In October 2019, Morey posted on Twitter a slogan used by Hong Kong rioters at the time. 

He quickly attracted the ire of Chinese people and NBA fans. 

Morey was general manager of the NBA franchise Houston Rockets then, and Harden was playing for the team at that time as well.

Morey later deleted the tweet and issued an apology. But his tweet caused widespread uproar on Chinese social media. 

It irritated the team's Chinese fans and also triggered repercussions from business partners, including a more-than-one-year long suspension of NBA games on China Central Television (CCTV). 

During his trip to Beijing, Harden received a warm welcome. He attended a training session for students from a local high school. 

After the training, he was surrounded by the students looking to get his photo and signature. 

Global Times