The Philadelphia 76ers believe they have a championship caliber roster in place entering the 2022-23 season. After swinging a trade deadline deal for James Harden last year, Philadelphia knocked off the Toronto Raptors in the first round, and lost a tough six-game series to the Miami Heat in round two with superstar center Joel Embiid playing through multiple injuries.
The Sixers have now had a full offseason to integrate Harden while spending their summer improving the roster around the margins. This should be one of very best teams in the East, but it’s going to require Harden to reestablish himself as one of the best guards in the league after a down year by his standards last season. We named him one of nine NBA players with the most to prove entering the new year.
The Sixers certainly have a lot of talent, led by Harden and Embiid, but they will need to find cohesion. That process begins in the preseason. As the Sixers opened training camp, there was a viral video of head coach Doc Rivers coaching up Harden that was so cool to watch.
This is a rare peak behind the curtain of what goes on at NBA practices. Fans are smarter because of access like this, and it’s a great way to grow the game.
In the clip, Rivers talks to Harden about the need to establish Embiid this season. He says Harden is a team leader, and needs to show everyone else how to get the big man in the middle going.
“We were a horrible — would you agree? — a horrible post passing team last year,” Rivers tells Harden. “Our objective is getting that first. That’s why you need to have the right spirit about it. Get them to do it right.”
“What I got to get y’all right on is when to roll, when to pop, when you got the ice. You and him, y’all got to get a communication where y’all listen to each other.”
Rivers also pressures Harden to find his own scoring. Harden led the league in scoring for three consecutive seasons by averaging more than 30 points per game when he was in Houston, but his scoring numbers have fallen the last two years. He only put up 21 points per game after being traded to Philly.
“We got to get you what you want,” Rivers says. “You can;t just say you’re a facilitator. You need to be a scorer and facilitator. It’s going to take time to figure it out. We need you to be the aggressive James you were the last five minutes.”
Rivers also tells Harden that the rest of the team must fall in line behind him and Embiid.
“We got to establish Joel and you,” Rivers says. “There’s a pecking order, this ain’t a democracy.”
The Sixers added P.J. Tucker, De’Anthony Melton, and Danuel House over the offseason, and still have Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle, and Paul Reed. This team should be excellent if they can find the chemistry Rivers is seeking. It’s so cool to see how that process starts to build.
James Harden and Doc Rivers showed us what it’s like to build NBA chemistry in training camp
