James Harden Appreciation Thread

Jhawk03 · Post #1 » by **Jhawk03** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 6:28 am

He came, he saw, he left.

I'm rooting for him and wish him luck, but his final game with us will burn in my memory forever.

stormi · Post #2 » by **stormi** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 6:45 am

Jhawk03 wrote:but his final game with us will forever burn in my memory forever.

We lost by 5000 points somehow... It all started with that flagrant on JB lol.

Anyways, he was critical to the development of Embiid and Maxey. Harden in large part assisted in Embiid winning MVP. Led the league in assists. Was a great servant in him repeating as scoring champ. By all accounts he took Maxey in under his wing and was a positive big brother like figure for him. The clips of Harden, Cassell and Maxey working out together were very wholesome. As were some of the moments between him and Embiid and the celebration of him winning MVP.

It could have gone better, but it definitely could have been a lot worse. Turning Ben Simmons into James Harden was one of the steals of the century.

Read on Twitter

I unapologetically enjoyed the James Harden experience.

Lou_23 · Post #3 » by **Lou_23** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 6:57 am

Adiós, hasta nunca !

Embiid P · Post #4 » by **Embiid P** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 7:00 am

Despite the way it ended, he had some good moments with us especially his performances in games 1 and 4 vs. the Celtics although he came up small in the rest. Like was previously stated, he helped develop Embiid and Maxey into the players they are today. Good luck in LA, except against us.

M2J · Post #5 » by **M2J** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 7:46 am

Embiid P wrote:Despite the way it ended, he had some good moments with us especially his performances in games 1 and 4 vs. the Celtics although he came up small in the rest. Like was previously stated, he helped develop Embiid and Maxey into the players they are today. Good luck in LA, except against us.

All true! Glad he left. Ultimately Sixers have to see this scenario as a huge favor.

You go from thinking Harden was going to leave for nothing, and still being excited about the possibility of developing Maxey and other players. To getting some playable depth for this season, plus 2 first round picks, getting rid of Tucker's deal for more cap space, a pick swap option, 2 2nd round picks which is a big surprise. He should be praised, because he needed to leave anyways if he wasn't going to age gracefully.

marcush · Post #6 » by **marcush** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 8:10 am

He was good last season but I’m glad he’s gone.

Jailblazers7 · Post #7 » by **Jailblazers7** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 8:14 am

Never liked James Harden & never will after this experience. I’ll give him credit tho, he had me believing for a season which is impressive after 10 years of drinking hateraid.

mjkvol · Post #8 » by **mjkvol** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 10:23 am

Glad the mess is over, but I'll always appreciate the Harden years for resuscitating the championship hopes of this team right when it was about to sink into the toilet of mediocrity and the ugly eventual departure of Embiid.

Harden's presence also made the team entertaining and bearable to watch during the seemingly endless reign of Rivers, so that gets him bonus points. I have no hard feelings toward him whatsoever.

Post #9 » by **Stanford** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 10:24 am

He was huge for Maxey's development, you have to admit.

Negrodamus · Post #10 » by **Negrodamus** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 10:38 am

Extremely annoying for that past year. Derailed an off-season where we were rumored to finally be shopping around Tobias. Completely shat the bed in the Celtics series.

But he was easily the best guard we’ve had since AI.

Arsenal · Post #11 » by **Arsenal** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 12:07 pm

It was ok but overall left us unfulfilled and unsatisfied. An era of blue balls. Also never liked his ball-pounding, ball-hogging ways, so I'm ecstatic to see him go.

Good luck with LA I guess, as along as it's not against us. However, I fully expect him to come up small when it matters as he always does.

Mik317 · Post #12 » by **Mik317** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 12:37 pm

no hard feelings towards him actually.

he is who he is and we had a shot...which is all you can ask for IMO

it was time to move on tho. Happy that he got Biid his MVP and helped Maxey blossom and that game 1 doe.

i suspect he balls out in LA...but like Biid it don't matter until the playoffs at this stage. Playoff Kawhii is a different animal and can carry like a mofo so I suspect it won't matter as much....lots of cooks in that kitchen tho

the_process · Post #13 » by **the_process** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 1:03 pm

Harden got the Sixers a good return for a guy who straight quit in Ben Simmons.

He opted out of 1/47M to instead get 2/68M, which allowed Morey to get busted for tampering with Tucker and House.

He mostly played well for a year and a half here.

He helped Jo finally get over the hump and win MVP. I think it's also clear he helped Maxey develop as well.

He is still a choker/quitter and a foul baiter. And it''s always tough for stars to know when they're partially washed and need to take a step back.

Good luck in LA, James. You're gonna need it.

Warfelg · Post #14 » by **Warfelg** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 1:20 pm

https://x.com/derekbodnernba/status/1719342495920799858?s=46&t=xd5QJpZuXv2k7qD0xqd6aA

It’s the least of all the 2026 OKC picks

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Skates · Post #15 » by **Skates** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 1:36 pm

Warfelg wrote:

Read on Twitter
?s=46&t=xd5QJpZuXv2k7qD0xqd6aA

It’s the least of all the 2026 OKC picks

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not surprising since we got it for a swap, just a trade chip anyway.

As for Harden, he came, he passed and scored and looked old when he wasn’t doing those things. Enjoy LA until you don’t.

Arsenal · Post #16 » by **Arsenal** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 1:56 pm

Forgot to add, thanks to Soften for opting in so we got trade value for him instead of getting nothing. Although he would have gotten nothing also if he didn't opt-in, so that was a win-win.

Bum Adebayo · Post #17 » by **Bum Adebayo** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 4:32 pm

No appreciation at all, the way he left, he is like Simmons for me, of course much better player but still, the same kind of CANCER.

76ciology · Post #18 » by **76ciology** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 5:11 pm

I always tell the story of how James Harden played in an exhibition game in my country ten years ago (Heat v Pacers). I arrived early at the arena, got myself good tickets, and watched him shoot the ball during pregame warm-up. He practiced all types of shots, including open 3s and stepback 3s with a trainer guarding him, barely missing any shots. It was one of the most amazing pregame shootarounds I've seen, even surpassing recent experiences watching Doncic.

Around 2018-2019, before the pandemic, there were two players I loved to watch, Steph Curry and James Harden. So when we hired Morey in 2021, and the rumors of Harden to the Sixers began, I was thrilled.

During the initial trade talks for James, I was so confident that I posted "Harden to Philly" on my social media, but the deal ended up with him going to the Nets, which made everyone laugh.

When we finally landed Harden, there was no more excitement for me; I always knew he'd be a Sixer. We noticed he had lost a step, but they attributed it to conditioning and his hamstring issues. The league struggled to adapt to their officiating, with Harden and Embiid's frequent trips to the free-throw line disrupting the game's flow.

Then came the Heat series, and his performance was disappointing. It was my first time experiencing a player on my team quitting during a crucial game, but we chalked it up to conditioning and hamstring issues.

In the 2022 offseason, Harden's camp said he had a full offseason to work on his game, and we saw him working out with Maxey and Cassell, creating hope for success. Harden even sacrificed by accepting less money, allowing us to acquire Tucker and DHJ. We were initially puzzled by DHJ but distracted by Tucker's great defense against us in the Heat series.

We looked great throughout the 2022-2023 season, with the most unstoppable PnR. Harden hitting that crucial 3 against the Bucks in crunch time and making game-changing plays.

Then came the playoffs, and Harden struggled in the Nets series, but we attributed it to rust. However, things took a turn in the Celts series. We had our chances but couldn't seal the deal, and the disappointment was palpable in Game 7.

Looking at his regular season numbers, Harden was what we needed, a killer who could create good looks, but the intangibles didn't quite fit. His game became predictable and repetitive, and he didn't move much, which was a problem when paired with a similar player in Biid. Eventually, smart teams figured out how to defend him, and the constant drama didn't help.

In closing, I appreciate James Harden's time with the Sixers and his contributions to the team, even if it didn't end the way I hoped. Like life, we always have a dream of how its gonna be until we experience it and reality hits.

And when that happen we adjust.

Skates · Post #19 » by **Skates** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 5:13 pm

Biggest contribution we probably got from Harden was him helping Joel get that MVP award, which was deserved in any of the last few years, but the big thing is getting that out of the way so that Jojo can hyper focus on leading the team to a ring now and forget about all of the individual stuff (though DPOY would be nice once the team add more offense around him and Maxey).

Tony Franciosa · Post #20 » by **Tony Franciosa** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 5:22 pm

Skates wrote:Biggest contribution we probably got from Harden was him helping Joel get that MVP award, which was deserved in any of the last few years, but the big thing is getting that out of the way so that Jojo can hyper focus on leading the team to a ring now and forget about all of the individual stuff (though DPOY would be nice once the team add more offense around him and Maxey).

this and getting Doc fired.