Tyrese Maxey gives praise to James Harden for time with Sixers
Across 1.5 seasons with the Sixers, Harden averaged 21.0 points, 10.6 assists, and 6.4 rebounds. He was certainly up and down in the 7-game semifinal series loss to the Boston Celtics in 2023, but he did win Game 1 on the road while Embiid was out with an injury. The Beard was fantastic on the floor.
Maxey hopped on "The Deep 3 Podcast" and gave his thoughts on Harden's time with the Sixers (h/t HoopsHype):
The biggest thing I learned is—I know (James Harden), and I know people aren't going to say he sacrificed, but he sacrificed. He gave up some of himself for the team, for the betterment of the team. He was able to get Joel a lot of easy shots. He got me a lot of easy shots. But it was all about trust. From day one when he came in, the first thing he said to me was, 'Listen, don't think you're not going to get the ball. Don't think you're not about to still be aggressive and keep building your game.' His first instinct was always, whether we scored or didn't, he was going to pitch it ahead to me—let me score in transition, play that one-on-one game, shoot—whatever the case may be. Then I'd get it back, and it would just flow from there.
Harden was very complimentary of Maxey after his Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sixers early in the 2024-25 season. It's obvious that the two of them are still friends and they have kept a good relationship even after Harden requested a trade in the 2023 offseason.
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