Bulls Head Coach Praises James Harden, Joel Embiid for Selfless Play

Throughout his years with the Houston Rockets and during his short stint with the Brooklyn Nets, James Harden has garnered a reputation of being a selfish player. 

When he was shipped to Brooklyn last season, many questioned whether Harden would pair well with two other stars as the league-wide belief is that he needs to be the go-to scorer or else he would be unsatisfied.

However, the numbers tell a different story. Since the 2020-2021 NBA season, Harden has averaged ten assists per game. Before getting traded to Philadelphia ahead of the deadline, Harden was collecting 10.2 assists per game in 44 matchups with the Nets.

Although his sample size with the Sixers is small, Harden has averaged a career-best 12.4 assists in his first five games in Philly. Harden might demand the ball more often than not as he's one of the league's most dominant scorers, but he can turn on the facilitator switch to allow his teammates to cook as well.

On Monday night, Harden did just that. With the Chicago Bulls in town, the Sixers were playing a team that Joel Embiid has dominated in the past. Once again, Embiid was feeling it offensively on Monday -- and Harden did all he could to ensure the ball got to Embiid so he could go to work.

"I just had to go out there and be a playmaker tonight," Harden said after Monday night's game against the Bulls. "He had it going from the beginning. I saw that. If he needed help, I was there to help him, but 43 points is a pretty good game. I think all of us just tried to fill in where we needed to."

Billy Donovan Praises Sixers' Selfless Play

Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan coached one of the few teams to face the superstar duo of Harden and Embiid so far this year. And his team couldn't handle the star combination as the Bulls fell short 121-106 in South Philly.

After the game, Donovan couldn't help but praise not only Harden but Embiid as well for their unselfish play on the court.

"I've always said this about James [Harden], he's a guy that has gotten a huge reputation, and rightfully so, for being an incredible scorer," said Donovan. "But, I also think he's very unselfish, and he's a pass-first kind of guy. I think he gets a lot of pleasure out of that."

"I think the same thing can be said about Jo-Jo," he continued. "I think he likes to do the same thing too. So I think any time you've got two elite offensive players that are along the lines of wanting to pass and share the basketball, which you have to do, and I'm sure Doc's [Rivers] working on this, is getting them playing together and playing in more of those situations together."

Embiid finished Monday's game with a game-high of 43 points in 36 minutes. As it was clear the big man had it going from the start, Harden took a backseat in the scoring department and just collected 16 points for himself. Meanwhile, in the assists department, Harden led Philadelphia with 14 assists. 

It was the second-most amount of assists Harden produced during his Sixers stint so far. With Harden's playmaking, and Embiid's dominance on both ends of the floor, the Sixers' superstar duo remains unbeaten when they are sharing the floor as they've now picked up five wins together.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.