CAMDEN, N.J. — Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden had dealt with a nagging hamstring that held him back on the floor, but after a full summer of working out and getting in the gym, he is ready to get back to his former self.
Harden averaged 21 points, 10.5 assists and 7.1 rebounds in 21 games, which are really solid numbers. There aren’t many players in this league who can do what Harden does on a nightly basis, but the efficiency was not up to his standards.
As a Sixer, he shot 40.2% from the floor and 32.6% from deep. He has to improve those numbers to help Philadelphia succeed.
The Beard was able to work out and lose weight over the summer, and he opened up on his workout regimen on Monday at media day.
“It’s dieting,” said Harden. “It’s proper rest and then it’s just, for me, I think it’s strengthening my muscles and gaining more muscle mass which I always had. It’s just this last year and a half, I wasn’t healthy enough to put the proper work in like I’m used to. This summer was huge for me in that aspect. The hill runs and the weight lifting were important and adding the skill on the court as well.”
As Harden heads into his first full season with the Sixers, The Beard wants to take things year by year with the team. The expectation is to win a title, but he also wants to be sure he can still be James Harden.
“Just win as many championships as I can here,” he added. “That’s the goal. Just going through what I went through these last few years, my thought is just take it one year at a time. Just making sure I can do everything I do individually and then making sure my individual goals mesh with the team and our entire goals. I’m taking this year and trying to do what we all expect to do and then we’ll go from there.”
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