Doc Rivers Speculates James Harden Was Bothered by All-Star Snub

Former 76ers head coach Doc Rivers claims that James Harden was a different player during the second half of the season.

After parting ways with the Philadelphia 76ers following a three-season stint as their head coach, Doc Rivers is comfortable with discussing topics he might’ve kept under wraps during his time with the team.

During his second public discussion since moving on from the 76ers, Rivers once again touched on his relationship with James Harden, which he described as an “honest one,” on the Dan Patrick Show.

On Wednesday, Rivers got honest on Harden once again, as the ten-time All-Star remains off the floor for the Sixers.

“When playing right, I tell everyone to go back to the first half of last year where he gave himself to the team,” Rivers said. “We were the best team in the NBA for a 10-20 game stretch, and obviously we have Joel, Tyrese, and Tobias, but we were because James was being a point guard. It’s funny; a coach called me and said, ‘I never thought anyone could get him to do that.’ And he did! For a short term. If you could keep him in that and not want to chase numbers — the thirst of scoring — then you have a terrific player.”

"Our relationship, it was an honest one. It's probably why I'm doing TV."

-Doc Rivers details his relationship with James Harden, and shares at what point things changed for James last season#brotherlylove pic.twitter.com/Jg0KpWy04T

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) October 25, 2023

When comparing Harden’s pre and post-All-Star production, Rivers was right in noting that Harden was more productive before the team entered the 2023 All-Star break. In 41 games before the break, Harden notched 21.4 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, 10.8 assists per game, and knocked down 39 percent of his shots from deep.

As a ten-time All-Star already, Harden’s reputation and production during the 2022-2023 season should’ve helped him in the voting for the big game. However, he ended up being viewed as one of the NBA’s biggest snubs after the voting results were revealed. At the time, Harden brushed it off.

“I’m not going to sit up here and say I should be an All-Star and make a case,” Harden said last February. “The numbers show it, and our seed shows it.”

While Harden attempted to externally downplay the idea that he was affected internally by the snub, Doc Rivers is under the impression that Harden’s exclusion from the game affected his mentality moving forward and, therefore, saw a negative impact on his production.

“He really was [playing perfectly]. I would say not making the All-Star team really bothered him,” Rivers added. “The coaches just didn’t put him on. He was only leading the league in assists. He was having the best three-point percentage shooting year of his career. He was averaging plus-twenty, and the coaches didn’t put him on the All-Star team. He would never say this, but in my gut, I thought it changed almost immediately.”

Harden appeared in 17 games following the break. He took a dip in each major category, dropping to 19.9 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game, and 10.2 assists per game while draining 38 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. Numbers-wise, Rivers is correct, even though it’s not a notable difference. 

But the head coach’s claims about Harden’s request after the news helped with his theory that Harden felt a certain way about getting slighted.

“About a game or two after that, he called me and said, ‘Hey, I want to come and start playing the second unit more.’ And I knew exactly what that means,” Rivers finished.

The head coach speculated that Harden wanted to veer away from playing a facilitator-focused role and find a way to morph back into the spectacular scorer he was with the Houston Rockets by getting more shots and opportunities to attack the basket more frequently. 

Harden didn’t finish the regular season as strong as he started, but he showed glimpses of being a star-caliber scorer once again in the playoffs during the second-round series against the Boston Celtics. For what it’s worth, Harden’s two 40-plus-point scoring bursts against the Cs helped the Sixers collect two tight wins they would’ve struggled to acquire had Harden remained in a pass-first role.

Either way, the Sixers’ 2022-2023 season ended in disappointment with another second-round loss. Harden has received his fair share of blame for the team’s shortcomings as he inconsistently produced throughout the series. However, Doc Rivers and the rest of the group were owed their fair share of criticism as well. 

Perhaps, Harden naturally felt slightly disgruntled over missing the All-Star game for the first time in a decade, but that's currently the least of Harden's worries.