When the Philadelphia 76ers managed to offload Ben Simmons, who had refused to play for the team all season in a deal that netted the franchise James Harden, their fans were understandably ecstatic. Harden had been wanting to play with Joel Embiid for a long time, and his relationship with Daryl Morey had finally made the move happen to create the superstar duo.
While the initial results were great, and Philly went on a bit of a winning streak with Harden in the side, his form has cooled down considerably to end the season. Harden has averaged 21 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 10.5 assists per game for the Sixers, not bad numbers, but severely lacking on the scoring front. And some of his recent performances have led to questions about his form from people like Shaquille O’Neal, with Sixers reporter Kyle Neubeck saying that everyone can see that Harden is no longer the same player.
“Everyone watching the Sixers can see the same thing right now. James Harden does not have the lift, the burst, the speed that he used to have, and it is impacting the way he goes about his business.” 😯
– @KyleNeubeck pic.twitter.com/Ks9LnTIZu0
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 11, 2022
“Everyone watching the Sixers can see the same thing right now. James Harden does not have the lift, the burst, the speed that he used to have, and it is impacting the way he goes about his business.”
Over the last couple of seasons, Harden has turned into more of a playmaker, but the suspicion for a long time was that it was thanks to playing alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the Brooklyn Nets, making him the facilitator. Now he has free reign to get his shots alongside Embiid, but his numbers just continue to keep falling.
The playoffs will be the ultimate litmus test for the Beard. As someone that has been repeatedly accused of playing poorly when it matters most, Harden needs to prove that he’s still the elite, incredible players everyone remembers from his time with Houston. If he cannot produce though, more questions regarding whether he’s past it are likely to arise throughout the offseason.
