After forcing the palace to leave the Rockets who played for 8 years last season, Harden, who wanted to join the Nets to build the big three, and because Irving refused to vaccinate, Durant suffered an injury, the team's record declined, and chose to force the palace to join the 76ers.
Although the way he left the team twice was disgraceful, Harden's own strength is worthy of recognition, and the next family who joined twice has a good ability to compete for the championship.
Especially for the 76ers who joined this time, the overall lineup configuration looks very suitable for Harden, and his combination of interior and exterior lines with Embiid is also regarded by the outside world as the most powerful inner and outer line duo in the league after the Lakers' "OK" combination.
Although Harden has been dealing with hamstring injuries after the trade, the outside world is still full of expectations for the pair.
Embiid has gone on a rampage in the past few games, facing the Bucks led by Brother Alphabet, one-man blasted 42 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists, leading the team to defeat the defending champion.
Interestingly, this is embiid's ninth single-game record of the season with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds, the second time in the past 30 years behind Westbrook (16-17, 12) and Harden (18-19, 10).
Embiid himself also spoke out more than once in the interview, expressing his expectations for himself and Harden's duo, bluntly saying that Harden is the best player he has ever worked with in his career, and he is too excited.
After 42 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists, Embiid also used Harden's "scary moment" in the interview, saying that he and Harden would be "48 minutes of horror moment" at the same time. ”
However, the outside world is not optimistic about the cooperation between the two, of which the US media "hoopshabit" lists three major reasons, believing that the two cannot win the championship, and pointing out that the personality and self of the two are potential hidden dangers.
Reason one: Potential opponents
Compared to past seasons, the Competition in the East has been fierce this season, with almost none of the top eight teams being vulnerable to easily dispatching, and even the Hornets, Hawks, Wizards and Pacers in the 9-12 are not easy to deal with.
And in the top eight, the First Heat have the toughest core configuration, and One of the league's best head coaches, Spoo, who has the ability to beat anyone.
Second-place Bulls are currently in a slump, but with the return of injured players, strong lineup depth, and a fiery DeRozan will create huge problems for all potential opponents.
Then there's the Nets and defending champion Bucks, as well as tricky opponents like the Raptors, Cavaliers and Green Army.
Even if the 76ers pass five levels and make it to the Finals, there are still many more powerful teams waiting for them in the West.
At present, the top three in the league belong to the West, namely the Suns, Warriors and Grizzlies, and the 76ers do not have an advantage against any team.
Reason two: chemical reactions
For any championship team, it takes a long run-in to establish a solid chemistry.
The 76ers' Harden and Embiid are naturally the same, and the two face a difficult run-in, because both are very big cores of the ball.
Embiid likes to hold the ball for a long time to play low singles, Harden likes to dribble for a long time, and then choose to pass the ball, or retreat to three points, the distribution of the ball alone requires the two to spend a lot of time to run, and there are only more than 20 games left in the regular season.
Reason three: Both are very egotistical
If it comes to the league's most individual, self-contained players, Harden and Embiid must be on the first roster.
Embiid has been a flamboyant player since his rookie season, daring to publicly criticize any player he is not satisfied with.
In the past few years, Harden has fallen out with Paul, Westbrook, Irving and Durant, and if he is dissatisfied, he often chooses to complain in a "passive and sabotage" way, rather than directly saying it.