“It’s only two games!”
“It was the Timberwolves and the Knicks!”
“Pump the brakes!”
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Surely, you’ve seen some naysayers trying to downplay the Sixers' dominance in the infantile stages of the James Harden era. Ignore them and ignore that brake. It’s time to lay on the gas and go pedal to the metal on those celebratory tweets! This is going to be an incredible spring.
That same group of trolls tried to tell you Joel Embiid and Harden wouldn’t be a great pairing because they both need the ball, disregarding the elite playmaking ability of the Beard and the budding guard skills that have helped Embiid take his game to another level this season. They play off each other perfectly. They’re working pick-and-rolls to perfection. And they’re only getting started.
Harden will continue to dismantle the labels placed upon him as the season continues. He’s already shown there’s a huge difference between ball-dominant and ball hog. Sixers players have raved about how open they are as a result of his presence and how often Harden finds them with passes they weren’t expecting. Harden’s a basketball savant who makes the right play consistently. He’s equally adept at getting himself and others prime scoring opportunities. Forget trying to figure out how Harden will fit into the offense. He IS the offense.
The haters will try to throw cold water on the situation by calling Harden a ticking time bomb, a malcontent who forced his way out of his last two stops. He sure seems happy now, though! Look, Houston (and Daryl Morey) had run its course chasing a title and that desire to win burned deep within Harden. He wanted to come to Philly a season ago, only to end up in Brooklyn.
NBA
Then somehow Harden took as much heat for wanting to get away from Kyrie Irving and his part-time status as Irving did for choosing to only be available for half the games. So, at least somewhat understandably, Harden wriggled his way out of another undesirable situation. He’s got a championship-sized hole in his résumé and desperately wants to fill it. Few players in the league are more capable of leading a title team than a fully motivated Harden.
And that leads us to the “playoff choker” tag. Yes, Harden doesn’t have a ring. But is losing to the Warriors four times during their run of five straight Finals trips some inexcusable atrocity? In those 23 playoff games against Golden State, Harden averaged 29.8 points along with 6.3 assists and 6.3 rebounds. Not exactly the stat line you’d expect from a guy who supposedly shrinks in the big moments. And in none of those previous instances did he have an MVP candidate as a running mate.
So, watch the speedometer climb, puff your chest out and get ready to celebrate. Because come this summer, James Harden is going to have a new label he’ll never be able to shake: champion.