James Harden’s Approach With Sixers Shocked Tyrese Maxey

Tyrese Maxey applauds James Harden's approach to the Sixers' offseason, despite his desire to be traded.

“It’s not our first rodeo,” said Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, who was addressing the James Harden saga for the first time back in August.

Weeks after Harden called out the Sixers’ front office and hinted he might not play for them again despite being under contract for the 2023-2024 season, Maxey was confident the Sixers would find a way to move forward without allowing the Harden situation to distract the team from preparing for the upcoming season.

In shocking fashion, Harden hasn’t made it difficult at all. Although his absence at media day and day one of training camp in Colorado created a lot of unwanted attention around the Sixers, Harden eventually made his way back to the team amid an active trade request.

Former Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley mentioned last week that Harden was a true professional upon his arrival. 

“He was at training camp, he was great,” Beverley said on the Pat Bev Podcast. “He was in shape, been playing his [expletive] off. He’s been leading. He’s been vocal. There hasn’t been a distraction there at all. Even with the media [and how they] want to present it to be like he’s coming here and making everything tough. He’s been a professional about everything and going about his business the right way. It’s good for players. I was happy to see him. I know young players, guys who never met him, were stoked to see him. He’s been in practice. It’s been great… It’s been real good.”

Beverley isn’t alone in that sentiment. Sitting down with former Sixers guard JJ Redick, current 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey sang praise for Harden and his professionalism despite the negative assumptions from those on the outside upon Harden’s arrival.

“He didn’t make it weird at all,” Maxey said on ‘The Old Man and the Three’ Podcast. “He came in and was very like… Just not what I expected. I’m going to be honest, just not what I expected. He was very receptive. He worked hard, he did all the drills. He was talking to even young guys that he didn’t know. Think about; James Harden, MVP, scoring champ, two-time assist leader, he’s sitting there talking to guys like Ricky Council like, ‘Hey, when you’re in help, you should do this,’ And I’m like, this is not what I was picturing.”

Since Maxey joined the Sixers in 2020, he’s now experienced two All-Star standoffs in Philadelphia. The first came two years back when Ben Simmons requested a trade and didn’t get it by the time training camp rolled around.

Harden became the second this offseason. However, this time around, it is clearly different. When Simmons showed up for the Sixers’ camp two years ago, he was unwilling to participate. When asked to jump in drills, the guard’s lack of effort led to him to getting booted from practice and suspended for the team’s opener. 

While Simmons became less of a distraction as the season went on, he remained off the court and was only around the team part-time. While it was assumed that Harden would take a similar approach in order to expedite a trade, he went in the opposite direction.

After skipping the Sixers’ first practice, Harden has been an active participant in every session since he returned. While he’s on pace to miss three of the Sixers’ four preseason matchups, the star guard revealed late last week that he’s eyeing a return to the court in next Friday’s matchup against the Atlanta Hawks.