Embiid-Harden pair
An “extremely happy” James Harden faced members of the media in the aftermath of the Sixers’ blowout victory over the overmatched Timberwolves the other day. Given his untenable position with the Nets prior to the trade that brought him to The City of Brotherly Love, he would have felt the same even if the red, white, and blue lost. That said, he appreciated the development, in no small measure because it underscored his much-improved position. As he basked in the prospect of good times with new All-Star partner and Most Valuable Player award frontrunner Joel Embiid, who just so happened to be sitting beside him during his post-mortem, he couldn’t have been any more fortunate.
Indeed, Harden happens to be among the few otherwise-disgruntled marquee names able to escape a personal purgatory. He tried to finagle a move to the Sixers 13 months ago, but the Rockets dealt him to the Nets instead. In retrospect, Choice 1B would have panned out had a confluence of events not prevented him from sharing the court with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving more often. But it didn’t, and he found himself angling for a third change of scenery in as many years. The move meant burning bridges, as the drafting of players to the All-Star Game by the team captains showed and led to his being picked last — in the process making for high-level unintentional comedy.
As Harden answered queries from the press, however, fractured ties were farthest from his mind. New ones took center stage, and none has more significance to him than that he has already formed with Embiid. And there’s reason for him to be bustling with optimism. For all his supposed frailties on the downside of his career, he remains an elite threat on offense, and with a game that complements the Sixers’ resident top dog. No surprise, then, that, when asked how their initial pairing went, the latter noted, “That was probably the most wide open I’ve ever been in my career.”
Sixers fans are notoriously hard to please, so nothing but the hardware will suffice for them. Nonetheless, there can be no denying that they’re better off now than they were before Harden came on board earlier this month. Prior to the deal, they had a virtual paperweight in Ben Simmons and a possible, but not likely, path to the championship. Now, that path has been cleared of a lot of debris. Not for nothing has the Beard’s Jersey moved to the top of the National Basketball Association’s best sellers. As to whether expectations will be met is another matter altogether.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
