James Harden’s career post his stint with the Houston Rockets has gone far from ideal. During his time with the Rockets, Harden might not have won an NBA Championship, but he was a force to be reckoned with in the league.
Since leaving the Rockets, Harden is yet to win an NBA Championship. On top of that, his individual performance has taken a huge dip. During his time with the Brooklyn Nets, fans still saw his flair here and there.
But since he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, the 10x NBA All-Star has failed to find his form. Philly fans forgave him for his underwhelming performance last season due to the fact that he was still new to the team.
As for the 2022-23 NBA season, Harden seems locked in. It was proved from the fact that Harden also agreed to take a massive pay cut to help the 76ers add great role players around him and Joel Embiid.
Most have applauded Harden for his sacrifice as he decided to put the interests of the team before his own. But former NBA star Gilbert Arenas has called out The Beard for his “sacrifice.” Arenas believes it’s not the player’s job to take a pay cut for billionaire owners. Instead, the players should be looking for opportunities to become billionaires.
(Starts at 33:00):
“Don’t take no pay cut to win. That ain’t your job. That is not your job to take a pay cut to win. You got to remember you’re a millionaire taking a pay cut for a billionaire, that don’t even sound right. You’re a millionaire taking a pay cut for a billionaire, right? Like, don’t you want to be a billionaire?”
Taking a pay cut might help a team in the shorter run, and it’s a high-risk, high-reward gamble. In Harden’s case, if the 76ers still fail to win an NBA Championship, it’s only his loss at the end of the day.
But from Harden’s perspective, if he doesn’t try everything possible from his end to win an NBA title, he might blame himself in the future. All things considered, it depends on which perspective someone wants to focus on.
