The Philadelphia 76ers flipped the NBA upside down at the trade deadline back in February, when they traded away young star Ben Simmons, big man Andre Drummond, and sharpshooter Seth Curry to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for superstar shooting guard James Harden. While Harden has performed well with his new team, his numbers pale in comparison to his MVP season in 2018 with the Houston Rockets, due in part to time he’s missed in the past few years due to lingering injuries. In an interview with Haute Time’s Laura Schreffler, Harden plans to use this offseason to prioritize his recovery and get back to that MVP level.
“I’ve had the luxury of not having to deal with any serious injuries, with surgeries or whatnot, my entire career,” Harden said. “But these last two years, I’ve been dealing with some hamstring issues, which are nothing to play with. So I’m taking this summer as an opportunity to do something for me, to make sure that I get back to the elite level that I know I can be at and that I will be at.”
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“So that’s priority No. 1. Basketball is the engine that drives everything, for us to be having this conversation, all the partners that I have, and the great things that I have going on outside of basketball, so I’ve got to make sure that’s on point.”
Harden’s transition to Philadelphia's roster was relatively smooth. In the 21 games he played with the SIxers, he averaged 21 points and 10.5 assists, adding 7 rebounds per game. While impressive, these numbers pale in comparison to his offensive output during his 2018 season, where he averaged 36.1 points, 7.5 assists and 6.6 rebounds per contest.
At 32 years old, Harden is becoming one of the older players left in the league. He is a few years behind stars like Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Steph Curry, but if he wants to match their level of play late into his career Harden will have to solve his injury issues.
[Via]