The Philadelphia 76ers are set to take on the Toronto Raptors in the opening round of the NBA playoffs, and they have a lot of expectations for them.
These stem from the mid-season acquisition of James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets where the team gave up Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond and Seth Curry. The trade has depleted a good chunk of the bench, but it did pair Joel Embiid with a superstar.
There’s also the issue of Matisse Thybulle being unavailable for games in Canada, meaning he could miss upwards of three games against the Raptors is the series stretches to seven games.
Through all of this, James Harden says he doesn’t feel pressure. In an interview with Complex, the Sixers star said he has nothing to prove in Philadelphia.
“For me personally, I always want to go out there and play well and contribute in whatever way I need to contribute but for me, it’s going out there and playing my game, trying to help my team win,” he said. “I don’t feel any pressure, I don’t feel any of that.”
While he might fully believe that, there are some members of the media who don’t believe it for a second. You can count ESPN’s Tim Legler as one of those people.
Legler Goes Off
Speaking on the April 14 episode of ESPN’s First Take, Legler believes Harden having nothing to prove couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I can’t fathom an athlete in that city, coming up with his track record and some of the things that have happened to him in the postseason and coming in there with what the organization just went through with all of the drama around Ben Simmons, all they gave up to get him, going two-thirds of the year without any other player in mind except this player, and a guy with an MVP season next to him, and you say ‘I got nothing to prove,'” he said.
Harden will likely be a member of the Hall of Fame, so he’s right in that he has nothing to prove in that aspect, but he still plays for a team that wants to bring home an NBA title. That has eluded Harden throughout his career, and while his teams have gotten close, he’s never gotten to hoist the trophy himself.
“What are you talking about? ‘I don’t feel any pressure, I’ve got nothing to prove.’ Nothing could be further from the truth,” he continued.
There have also been several games this year with the Sixers where Harden has struggled, and the team is going to want to avoid that the best they can if they want to bring home a championship.
Tough Road Ahead
GettyMatisse Thybulle is ineligible in Canada.
The Sixers have a tough road ahead of them if they want to become the NBA champions. While they are favored against the Toronto Raptors, not having Thybulle on the road could prove to be costly as he’s the team’s best perimeter defender, which might mean Fred VanVleet could run around with free reign.
At the end of the day, the Sixers are still the favorites in that series, and they’ll need to have a fully locked in and engaged James Harden on the team if they want to keep on progressing through the playoffs.
READ NEXT: Sixers’ Joel Embiid Shares Honest Opinion on ‘Reckless’ Raptors
Comments
Sixers Star James Harden Put on Blast: ‘Nothing Could Be Further from the Truth’