Paul Reed gives respect to James Harden ahead of matchup with Clippers
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers acquired James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets at the 2022 trade deadline, sending Ben Simmons out in the deal. Harden did some terrific things as a member of the Sixers, but then the relationship went south during the 2023 offseason.
Harden wasn’t happy with how events unfolded in Philadelphia. He called out President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey over the summer and he was steadfast about wanting to be sent to the Los Angeles Clippers.
After considerable time going back and forth, Morey obtained a package he wanted for Harden to ensure the Sixers remained competitive. In 79 games for Philadelphia, he averaged 21 points, 10.6 assists and shot 37% from deep.
As the Sixers prepare to face Harden and the Clippers on Sunday, Paul Reed gave a lot of love and respect to his former teammate.
“He dropped hella dimes off to me, I feel like,” Reed told Sixers Wire while smiling. “He made the game a lot easier for all of us in a way. He was a great leader when he was here.”
Harden is an obvious future Hall of Famer and is one of the best to ever play the game. Despite the playoff shortcomings in Philadelphia, The Beard did a number of good things for Reed and the Sixers as a leader and getting everybody involved. He was a good example for the younger players.
“To me, I just learned from him,” Reed added of Harden. “Just his tendencies and off-the-court habits and stuff like that. Just see how he moves and he’s still an extremely successful player so I just tried to learn what he does off the court to stay sane and keep it pushing so I kinda took that from him.”
Harden is leading the Clippers as things didn’t work out in Philadelphia, but he had an impact on the Sixers and his former teammates felt it.
