When asked about the return of franchise icon James Hardenย and how he looked on his first day back, Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni sounded downright giddy after Thursday’s team practice.
“He looked good,” D’Antoni said. “He probably was rusty for about 30 seconds. He played well today. Spirit is great. Good beginning.”
“Same James,” added Ben McLemore. “It’s great to see him, great to have him back. Didn’t miss a beat at all. He’s the same old James Harden.”
For a previously undisclosed reason, Harden arrived at the “bubble” on Tuesday night โ five days after most of his teammates. On Thursday, Harden cited “family issues” as the reason for his delay.
From there, the NBA has a mandatory two-day period of quarantine and COVID-19 testing for all new arrivals. That made Thursday the first day that Harden could be cleared to truly enter the complex and practice.
“I feel like I’m in a good place,” Harden explained after Thursday’s practice. “Today was the first time I’ve played pickup, five-on-five [basketball], in over a month. … It felt really good today.”
As far as the team’s on-court activities, Harden said:
Today in practice, we got after it. We pushed ourselves. I’m doing a lot of trash talking, as usual, just to get the guys motivated and keep pushing.
D’Antoni had previously said he expected to gradually ramp up Harden’s activity over his initial training camp practices at the NBA “bubble,” with a goal of having him scrimmaging by Sunday.
As it turned out, Harden was ready to scrimmage on the first day. When asked whether Harden came to Orlando more ready than he [D’Antoni] had anticipated, Houston’s coach responded:
Yeah, for sure. I didn’t see any difference whatsoever. Right now, he’s full-tilt. He looks ready to go. …
You forget how strong he is, he’s one of the strongest players in the league. He’s able to guide himself.
Though Harden was away from the team, D’Antoni consistently said that he was working out on his own, and he was shown going through various drills at team facilities in Houston earlier this week.
On Thursday, Houston’s coach credited Harden and others around him for having him ready to play. “He went through the full practice like everybody else,” D’Antoni said in post-practice comments. “His wind was as good as anybody. They ramped him up well before he got here.”
Harden’s intense workouts during the NBA’s COVID-19 hiatus were well chronicled, leading to a “Skinny Harden” moniker on social media. On Thursday, he said the key was keeping his focus outside of hoops.
“For me, basketball is natural,” Harden said of his routine during the NBA’s shutdown. “I feel comfortable no matter what, even if I take a month or two off. The biggest thing for me is conditioning. It was mostly running, weight lifting, I did a little bit of yoga for flexibility.”
McLemore, who is close with Harden, cited social media when asked whether he was surprised by how Harden looked Thursday. He replied:
Not at all. He’s one of those guys that loves to work. You could see throughout the social media pictures that he stayed in shape. It showed out here.
Ben McLemore on whether he was surprised by how ready James Harden was on his first day at a #Rockets practice in months:
"Not at all. He's one of those guys that loves to work. You could see throughout the social media pictures that he stayed in shape. It showed out here."
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) July 16, 2020
Now 30 years old, “The Beard” is an eight-time NBA All-Star and the league’s 2018 MVP. For a third consecutive season, the 6-foot-5 guard leads the NBA in scoring in 2019-20 at 34.4 points per game, and he’s also averaging 7.4 assists and 6.4 rebounds each time out.
Harden’s Rockets (40-24) will enter the NBA’s upcoming restart tied for the No. 5 spot in the Western Conference, with their first regular-season game set for Friday, July 31 versus Southwest Division rival Dallas. Houston has already clinched its playoff spot and can finish anywhere between No. 2 and No. 7 in the final West standings.
“Come those eight games, he’s going to be ready to go,” D’Antoni said.
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