Warning Issued Over Sixers Star James Harden: ‘We’ve Seen This Movie Before’

Getty James Harden is ready to lead the Sixers.

The Philadelpha 76ers pulled off a blockbuster trade by landing James Harden before the NBA trade deadline, and the results have been so far, so good.

Since coming over from the Brooklyn Nets, the Sixers haven’t dropped a game with Harden in the lineup, and that’s despite giving up valuable pieces in Seth Curry and Andre Drummond.

The duo of Joel Embiid and Harden has been exactly what has been envisioned, and the excitement around the team is certainly at a season high.

However, Bleacher Report’s Dan Farvale warns Sixers fans that we’ve seen this story before with Harden, and it actually happened not too long ago.

Harden made it abundantly clear he wanted out of Houston and he eventually forced a trade to the Nets where he’d form a star trio with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. While they hardly played together on the court at the same time, the hype and expectation for the Nets was there.

By the end of his Nets tenure, Harden was once again looking like he had one foot out the door and wanted to be in Philadelphia. Fast forward to now and he’s starring for the Sixers.

Buckle Up

GettyJames Harden scored 27 points and dished out 12 dimes in his Philadelphia 76ers’ debut.

When Harden arrived in Brooklyn, fans were ready to hang up the championship banners, but that never came to fruition.

Now that he’s in Philadelphia, there are some fans out there ready to say the same thing.

Farvale says not so fast.

“This is the second team he’s bailed on in as many years, and even at his most interested, he was not delivering the consistent efficiency that has long anchored his top-five-player case,” he wrote.

The situation around the Nets was certainly unexpected and something nobody could have seen coming, so the blame might not entirely be on Harden there, something Farvale does note.

“Kyrie Irving’s own glaring dearth of self-awareness and conditional commitment to Brooklyn’s season offer Harden cover for the circumstances under which he forced his way to the Sixers.”

All Good in Philly?

GettyAll good in Philly so far.

Now that Harden is in Philadelphia, he looks more engaged than he did throughout his time in Brooklyn, and his numbers have skyrocketed. Of course, two of the games have come against the New York Knicks, but his stats are still impressive.

Farvale does warn that we’ve all seen how this plays out.

“Harden is already meeting expectations in Philly,” he said. “That won’t change. We’ve seen this movie before. But that’s also the problem.”

When things are going great, Harden is a big part of it, but fans will have to hope that he stays just as engaged if issues begin to crop up. With the Nets, Harden and Durant were able to reach the top of the Eastern Conference standings, but when Harden was the lone full-time star, things became a lot shakier.

Since the Sixers are still in the honeymoon period with Harden, there’s no cause for alarm just yet, and there might not ever be. Then again, we have seen this movie before.

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