Joel Embiid Seems Convinced Harden Won't Return to Houston Form

James Harden was a stellar bench player with the Oklahoma City Thunder during his first few years in the NBA. After moving on to the Houston Rockets, he went

James Harden was a stellar bench player with the Oklahoma City Thunder during his first few years in the NBA. After moving on to the Houston Rockets, he went from being a standout guard to becoming an NBA superstar.

For eight-straight seasons, Harden averaged over 25 points per game. In three of those seasons, he averaged over 30 and was the NBA's scoring champion for three straight years. 

In 2020-2021, Harden's scoring average took a noticeable dip. Coming off of a season where he put up 34 points per game in 68 matchups, Harden averaged 24 points in 44 matchups during stints with the Rockets and the Brooklyn Nets.

After rehabbing his hamstring, many expected Harden to be more productive during the 2021-2022 season. However, his scoring average decreased again as he put up 22 points per game in 44 matchups before getting moved to Philadelphia.

Then with the Sixers, Harden averaged 21 points over 21 games. In the playoffs, that scoring average went down to 18 points per game, which is the first time he failed to average at least 20 points in the postseason since coming off the bench for the Thunder back in 2012.

Several factors could play into Harden's lack of scoring while on the Sixers this season, but many believe the star guard simply isn't the same scoring monster as he was with the Rockets. And Joel Embiid claimed he's in that group following Philadelphia's disappointing Game 6 loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday.

“Ever since we got him, everybody expected the Houston James Harden," said Embiid. "But that’s not who he is anymore."

Embiid's postgame comments came off as if the standout center was throwing shade at his co-star, but the seven-footer simply explained that he sees Harden in a different light at this phase of his career.

“He’s more of a playmaker," Embiid continued. "I thought at times he could’ve been, as all of us, could’ve been more aggressive. All of us, whether it’s Tyrese or Tobias or guys coming off the bench. 

In the short amount of time Harden, Embiid, and this year's Sixers worked together, they couldn't crack to code in learning how to perfect their chemistry playing as a whole. While it's clear that Harden is unlikely to return to MVP form, Embiid believes that they can improve with more time.

“Obviously, only having probably three or four months to all work together and try to figure it out -- maybe it wasn’t a lot of time," said Embiid. "But like I said, I don’t think we played our best basketball [in Game 6]. Everybody’s gotta get better. It’s not just about me or him. From one through 15, there’s a reason why we lost to Miami. That means we’re all not good enough. So everybody just has to be better.”

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

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