PHILADELPHIA — There were whispers all summer that Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden might be on the downside of his career. There were whispers he would never recover from the nagging hamstring injury and that this would be it for him.
To begin the 2022-23 season, those thoughts look foolhardy.
After scoring 31 points, 16 coming in the fourth quarter, and dishing nine assists with eight rebounds in Thursday’s 90-88 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, The Beard has scored 66 points through the first two games of the season. It’s obvious the work he put in over the summer is paying off.
“I’m a workaholic,” said Harden. “So just not being able to put the work in like I normally do was frustrating. This summer I had the opportunity to and even up to this point, I feel really good. Just continue to put the work in and living with the results and that’s what I live by.”
Harden addressed the critics as he discussed the things that have been said about him in the past.
“A lot of people don’t see the work that I put in,” he added. “This scoring ability and all this other stuff doesn’t come without work. As much as people wanna talk about all the other stuff that don’t really matter, I’m a workaholic. I love to be in the gym and I love to play basketball, so I’ll continue to do that.”
Despite Harden’s best efforts, Philadelphia is 0-2. It will have an excellent opportunity on Saturday to get in the win column when the rebuilding San Antonio Spurs come to the Wells Fargo Center.
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“For me, it’s not even about the individual,” Harden finished. “The individual is great and I’ll do whatever it takes for the betterment of this team, but I think, all of us have to be playing at a high level. I think that’s a part of my job.”
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