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The Herd's Joy Taylor commended Philadelphia 76ers' James Harden for his willingness to take less money. While plenty of stars are getting multi-million deals during this year's free agency, James Harden took a different route.
Various media outlets have reported Harden's decision to opt out of the last year of his contract. It would've been the last year of the contract extension that he signed back when he was with the Houston Rockets in 2017. Back then, it was one of the biggest contracts in NBA history, allowing him to earn more than $40 million per year.
In this off-season, the 10-time All-Star looked to be showing growth as he decided to settle for less money. This decision would allow the Sixers to strengthen the depth of their roster. It was reported that James Harden would be giving up $10 million in his upcoming multi-year deal.
Harden's significant growth in helping his team earned him praise from NBA analyst Joy Taylor.
"To me, this shows James knows where he's at. He knows how we view his career and his legacy," Taylor stating, commending James Harden for his selflessness.
She continued:
"I think this is a significant thing to do, especially when you consider how the season ended."
She concluded by saying:
"We punish players. We talk negatively about players when they don't have any self-awareness," Taylor added. "So, in the same breath, we need to praise them. We need to give them their flowers when they do have awareness."
This financial decision by the 2017-18 MVP allowed the Sixers to sign a valuable veteran, PJ Tucker. The Sixers signed Tucker to a three-year $33 million fully guaranteed deal. The 2021 NBA champion provides a much-needed veteran presence who knows how to contend for the title.
Adding Tucker would boost their defense and also help their floor spacing. Sixers general manager Daryl Morey and Harden will be reunited with Tucker this upcoming season.
James Harden's 2021-22 season was full of ups and downs
James Harden started the 2021-22 NBA season with the Brooklyn Nets and ended up getting traded to the Sixers midway through the season. Due to injuries, the COVID-19 vaccination topic and lack of success, Harden took part in one of the most talked about trades last season. The Nets shipped Harden, in exchange for Ben Simmons, and immediately played great basketball.
Despite his impressive start with the Sixers, Harden struggled to play good, consistent basketball. In his first game against his former team, Harden only scored 11 points and went 3-17 from the field and 3-7 from the three-point area.
In last season's playoffs, Harden had multiple games where he has scored under 20 points, which was an unusual sight to see. NBA Hall of Famer and analyst Charles Barkley sent him a message during their playoff run after Harden claimed that he wasn't pressured with the playoffs.
Harden has been criticized by a ton of media personalities repeatedly for how he's unable to perform at a high level during the playoffs. With the recent delevopments surrounding the former Sixth Man of the Year, we might see a new type of player this upcoming season.
Guess the Lakers players!
