The Philadelphia 76ers have been riding high since they managed to move on from Ben Simmons and managed to bring James Harden to the team instead. The team already had the MVP frontrunner in Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey has also come along extremely well in his sophomore year in the NBA. The Sixers are the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference and look primed to make a run to the NBA finals.
However, not everyone is sold on the Sixers and their capabilities, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas is among the doubters. Speaking on his No Chill with Gilbert Arenas podcast, he suggested that the Sixers don’t have the discipline it takes to beat several Eastern Conference teams.
“They’re not winning no goddamn championship. I don’t even have them getting out of the first round unless they play the Bulls, not even the Bulls. If they play Toronto or Cleveland.
“You think they beating Boston in seven games, you see what Boston has been doing today. You think they’d beat Chicago in the playoffs, you think they’d beat Miami in the playoffs, you think they’d beat Bucks in the playoffs, you think they’d beat Nets in the playoffs first round.”
“We’re talking about discipline, playoffs is discipline. It’s halfcourt, that means less possessions, like you have to be perfect basically in the playoffs. That team ain’t disciplined enough, so the only team you can beat with just being Embiid and just being James Harden, you can beat the Cavs and you can beat Toronto.”
The Sixers are not safe in the 2nd seed spot by any means, both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics have almost the same record as they do. Considering that the Brooklyn Nets are also lurking in the play-in tournament in the East, it’s hard to say with confidence which team will make it out of the conference. But to write off the Sixers entirely is also quite a drastic reaction Arenas. Only time will tell if Harden and Embiid will step up in the playoffs.
