Joel Embiid Responds To James Harden’s Comment On 76ers: “we’re still good enough”

James Harden told reporters during his first press conference with the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday that he was kept on “a leash” offensively by his previous team and that he isn’t a “system player; I am a system.” Harden felt that the Philadelphia 76ers didn’t give him the full freedom to be himself as a player. Well, his former teammate Joel Embiid has something to say about it.

Joel Embiid Responds To James Harden’s Comment On 76ers: “we’re still good enough”

Everything was so, “I’m a business, man / I’m not a businessman.”

Bars aside, centre Joel Embiid, the defensive MVP, offered his own observations about the potential limits Harden had with the Sixers, while he was otherwise positive about his former colleague:

“I think the game and I’m a creator on the court,” Harden said. “So if I got a voice to where I can, ‘Hey, Coach, I see this. What you think about this?’ Somebody that trusts me, that believes in me, that understands me. I’m not a system player. I am a system. You know what I mean?”

Embiid chose to elaborate on his former teammate’s remarks at his first media appearance since the trade was finalized because Harden was speaking without thinking. The big man disagreed wholeheartedly with Harden’s assertion that he was being controlled in Philadelphia, even though he played the high road and showered Harden with praises.

On Thursday night, Embiid stated, “I don’t think so.” “I think he did a lot of great things for us.

“But in my opinion, we gave him the ball every single possession, because he’s really good. He’s an amazing player. Obviously, being that great of a passer, I think we gave him the ball … we’d give him the ball every single possession to just go out and, you know, do his thing.  And from there he had to make decisions as far as getting guys open or looking out for himself.”

In the locker room, it didn’t appear as though the Sixers missed Harden.

On Thursday night, the Sixers defeated Toronto in a game that nearly everyone helped to win. Embiid finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists. Oubre and Harris each had 23 points. Maxey was eighteen.

While Nurse was attempting to install his system and get to know his new squad, Harden chose to play out the final year of his contract in an attempt to force a trade. He was also tardy to training camp and showed sporadic involvement at practice, showing little desire to actually truly play.

“Guys have been focused knowing we’re still good enough,” Embiid said, adding that Harden was never really a distraction. She also wished him well in Los Angeles.

“I think he did a lot of great things for us,” Embiid said. “But the notion of misuse, maybe that might have been coming the way he felt with the coaching staff. But in my opinion, I just feel like we just allowed him to be himself. We gave him the ball every single possession because he is really good. He’s an amazing player.”

 

 

 

FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE- 

Ralf Schumacher Updates On The Condition Of His F1 World Champion Brother