The Philadelphia 76ers are at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, for training camp ahead of the 2022-23 season. The Sixers figure to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference this season, and all eyes are on James Harden as he begins his first full season with the team.
Harden played 21 games for the Sixers after the blockbuster deal at the deadline, and his raw numbers were good. He averaged 21 points, 10.5 assists and 7.1 rebounds. Those numbers are nothing to sneeze at.
However, he shot only 40.2% from the floor and 32.6% from deep. Those numbers are well below his career shooting numbers, which everyone attributes to the nagging hamstring injury that bothered him throughout his first stint in Philadelphia.
On Thursday, NBATV live streamed Philadelphia’s practice from training camp and coach Doc Rivers was mic’d up. A video was released of Rivers and Harden having an interesting conversation about Harden’s role, and how he has to be a leader for this team as they move forward.
Doc Rivers talks with James Harden following practice pic.twitter.com/hsmYReiCsb
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) September 29, 2022
[pickup_prop id=”26456″]
This is an interesting way to peek into the coach and star dynamic while out on the floor. Rivers has coached Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Kawhi Leonard, so he understands how to handle stars. The conversation between him and Harden seemed a positive one, and the Sixers should be in a good spot going forward if the dynamic remains this way.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=68811]
[lawrence-related id=68808,68802,68798]