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James Harden is still on the 76ers despite campaigning for a trade all offseason and won't play against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night in Philadelphia season opener. The star guard reported to camp but is being held out of the contest for conditioning purposes. However, the league is investigating whether the reason for his absence qualifies as approved by the rules set in place by the league's new player participation policy, according to a report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The NBA's Board of Governors decided on a system that fines teams for resting star players in certain situations ahead of the 2023-24 season and Thursday's nationally televised game between two of the league's more popular teams fits the criteria for contests key players should participate in if healthy. Philadelphia could be penalized if an investigation finds that Harden doesn't have a valid reason to sit.

Harden did participate in at 76ers training camp in some capacity, but began missing practice ahead of the preseason and didn't appear in any exhibition games. While he did try to fly with the team to Milwaukee earlier this week, he was turned away. The 76ers say they would like to ramp up Harden's activity in workouts before playing him following his extended absence from practice, but there hasn't been any reported injury or personal issue preventing him from being active.

The league's decision on Harden remains to be seen and could affect the 76ers negatively for the foreseeable future if the issue drags on.