James Harden on Tenure as a Sixer: 'I was on a leash'

James Harden on Tenure as a Sixer: ‘I was on a leash’ - Page 4

Los Angeles Clippers v Los Angeles Lakers

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Three days after James Harden was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, Harden spoke to the media. He spoke about his tenure in Philadelphia and how he feels it was not conducive to where he feels his value is currently in today’s NBA landscape. He never said he felt like an animal, but his words used to describe his tenure as a Sixer, you could assume he was being treated like one.

““Philly [was] just changing my role knowing I can give more, knowing I can do more” Harden explained. “It’s like being on a leash. Like, me knowing, in order for us to get where we want to get to, I was going to have to be playing my best offensively whether it’s facilitating and scoring the basketball, and Joel [Embiid] as well.”

Harden, realizing his leash analogy may have been a bit much, goes into depth to say that former head coach Glenn Rivers never really saw Harden’s ability to see the court at an advanced level and didn’t trust his instinct as a facilitator.

“When I’m in a leash, I’m not meaning shoot the basketball every time. I meant like, I think the game and I’m a creator on the court, so if I’ve got a voice to where I can [say] ‘Hey Coach, I see this, what you think about this?’ — I’m not a system player, I am a system.” Harden continued.

“Somebody that can have that dialogue with me, and understand and move forward and figure out and make adjustments on the fly throughout the course of games, that’s all I really care about. It’s not about me scoring the basketball … I’ve done that already.”.

Harden is expected to make his Clippers debut monday versus the New York Knicks.

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James Harden on Tenure as a Sixer: ‘I was on a leash’ - Page 4 was originally published on rnbphilly.com

James Harden on Tenure as a Sixer: 'I was on a leash'