James Harden
James Harden recently talked about how motivated he is to win the championship with the 76ers, but fans were having none of it.
Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden recently talked about his championship aspirations with the franchise. He had also taken a pay cut in order for the 76ers to get more players that are needed to win a championship.
According to Shams Charania of the Athletic: James Harden is taking a $15 million paycut for next season that allowed Philadelphia to elevate roster — with sole focus on a championship run in 2023. Harden opted out of his $47M player option and now plans to sign a new two-year deal with a player option in Year 2.
Harden was complimented by a lot of people for taking a pay cut. He has shown the world that nothing matters to him more than winning with the 76ers.
In an interview, Harden said, “I had conversations with Daryl, and it was explained how we could get better and what the market value was for certain players. I told Daryl to improve the roster, sign who we needed to sign and give me whatever is left over,”
He added, “This is how bad I want to win. I want to compete for a championship. That’s all that matters to me at this stage. I’m willing to take less to put us in a position to accomplish that.” However, the fans arent believing in Harden yet. They think he is going to come up short in the playoffs yet again. They shared their views on Twitter, and here are some of the best reactions.
The Philadelphia 76ers certainly have one of the very best rosters in the league. Injuries to star players hampered their hopes of a championship last season, but they will be among the favorites heading into the next season.
Talking about his team’s roster, James Harden said, “I think we have a much deeper team. That’s something we wanted to address. If you look at our team now, we’re positioned to go a lot further. I like how we stack up with the rest of the top teams.”
James Harden also talked about how he doesn’t listen to the outside noise that criticizes him. Harden claimed he was not 100% last year, yet played well than many other star players in the league.
The former MVP said, “I don’t really listen to what people are saying. I wasn’t right last season and I still almost averaged a triple-double. If anybody else had those numbers, we’d be talking about them getting the max.
He added, “People were used to seeing me averaging 40, 30 points, and so they viewed it as a down year. I was in Philadelphia for a couple of months and I had to learn on the fly. That’s just what it was. I’m in a good space physically and mentally right now, and I’m just looking forward to next season.”
Hopefully, this exciting duo of Embiid and Harden can finally bring a championship to Philadelphia. The fans have been waiting for too long, and it might be their best chance of the century.
Every year the Philadelphia 76ers look like they are a championship contender, but they suffer a heartbreaking playoff exit every year. They haven’t gone past the 2nd round in the Embiid era, and that is a big concern.
If they cant get it done with Harden, and Embiid, it’s unlikely that they will ever win a championship. Next season will be very huge for this team, as their championship window is slowly getting shut.
Harden also talked about his relationship with Embiid. He said, “I talk with Joel frequently and we have meetings about how we’re going to play and what we need to do to help our team win a championship.”
He added, “When you have two of the top players at their positions on the same team, that’s a great building block. We’re going to grow together and try to lead this team to the top. I believe we can do it together.”
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