PHILADELPHIA — The 2021-22 season for the Philadelphia 76ers has come to an end after they were eliminated by the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. This is the fourth time in five seasons they have been eliminated in the semifinals.
The Sixers made a big trade to acquire James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets in February, and that move was looked at as the missing piece for Joel Embiid to get the job done.
Instead, Harden didn’t look like himself. He wasn’t the explosive scorer he has been known to be, and he hasn’t been the superstar everybody thought he would be next to Embiid.
He has dealt with a hamstring injury throughout the season and he admitted it has been challenging for him.
“For me, personally, this has been a long year, but since I’ve been here, it’s been great,” he said. “We tried to build something so fast. We tried to build a championship-contending team so fast, which I still think we are, we’re just missing a few pieces, but other than that, we tried to go for it right away and we just came up a little short. It doesn’t stop. We still gotta put work in, and continue to keep going.”
Harden also suffered the hamstring issue in the 2021 playoffs with the Nets.
“Honestly, it’s been a long two years for me,” said Harden. “I’m finally starting to feel OK for me. It will be a great summer for me to get my body right and be ready to go for next year. These last two years have been a whirlwind though.”
Harden must step up to the challenge.
“I’m excited,” he finished. “I’ve been trying to get right throughout the course of a basketball season for two years straight and that’s not it. You know what I mean? All last summer, I was rehabbing, and it was a little frustrating because I’m not used to going through something like that, but it is what it is and I’m just happy to be healthy now. I’ve got a full summer to be straight and to do the things necessary to come back even better next year.”
Time will tell, but if Harden can have a productive summer and get healthy, he will be a big help to the Sixers in the 2022-23 season.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[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=63961]
[lawrence-related id=63965,63958,63955]