On March 14, 2022, Beijing time, in the game against the Magic, Philadelphia narrowly won the opponent by only 2 points in overtime, and the overall state of the team was really very limited. Harden played 44 minutes in this game, shooting 5-of-19 from the field, with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, and was in a very bad state on the offensive end. In the last game against the Nets, his performance was also very bad, shooting 3 of 17 from the field, only 11 points, hardened 8 of 36 in these two games, shooting only 22.2%!
Such a play is indeed very bad for the absolute core of a team, and after playing 5 excellent games in Philadelphia, the honeymoon period between Harden and Philadelphia seems to have passed! After the rout against the Nets, Harden was filmed attending a friend's birthday party and appeared to be very happy at the party, which also caused a lot of fans to criticize!
And recently the famous mouth Steven A. Smith spoke about Harden's presence at a buddy party on the show, saying, "What I want to tell Harden on national live is that as someone who has worked in Philadelphia for 17 years, I know the city well. People here love you, and they appreciate that you are Harden and not Ben Simmons. However, you cannot make mistakes. After playing like that the other night, you don't get seen going to a party anymore, just like you don't pay any attention to the game. Because from what I know about the city, I can assure you that this game is important for Philadelphia. And, Harden, you have to be careful, you have to be very, very careful, this is not Houston. ”
These words actually sound a bit sarcastic, and even a little reproachful, but in fact, if you think about it, it is still some very pertinent advice, to know that the reason why Philadelphia fans hate Simmons is not because of his inaccurate shooting, but because of his attitude to the game. He has a problem with the team and the game, the fans will do their best to boo him, and Harden really played too badly against the Nets, at this sensitive stage, he was sent to the party, it is indeed easy to cause fans to resent!
It's not that players can't have private lives, and it's not that players can't party, but at this very sensitive stage, you really should pay attention to the impact, even if you go to the party, you must try not to be photographed by the media, otherwise it will really cause unnecessary trouble! And sports competition is bad results and everything is wrong, if Harden can play a very good performance, even if he goes to the party every day, no one will say anything!
So Harden really should consider these words from Smith, the limited advice is really very pertinent, which will be of great help to his next game and work in Philadelphia!