Doc Rivers Reveals Early Recovery Process for James Harden

After a healthy offseason, Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden looked forward to putting his past injury issues behind him and getting a fresh start during his first full season with the Sixers.

Through nine games, Harden looked fresh as he averaged 22 points, ten assists, and seven rebounds while shooting 44 percent from the field and 33 percent from deep on nearly seven attempts per game.

With plenty of time left in the season, Harden looked forward to only getting better as the Sixers improved their on-court chemistry. Unfortunately, an injury will sideline him for at least two weeks.

Following last Wednesday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards, Harden was diagnosed with a tendon strain in his right foot. According to a Sixers official, Harden will be re-evaluated in two weeks. The star guard might have a better idea of when he’ll return when he undergoes a two-week evaluation, but Harden is expected to miss at least a month’s worth of time, according to a report.

After the Sixers dropped their Friday night matchup against the New York Knicks, the team returned to practice on Sunday after getting Saturday off. Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers discussed the status of Harden now that he’s gone through a few days of recovery since suffering the strain.

“He feels good,” said Rivers. “He’s in a boot.”

With Harden sporting a walking boot, he can’t currently do too much to keep up with conditioning at the moment. Therefore, Rivers lays out the early blueprint for Harden’s recovery process as the sharpshooter is physically limited.

“Our whole thing is just try — it’s tough to condition — just eating right and doing right all the health stuff and doing all the right treatment,” Rivers explained. “He’s doing everything he’s supposed to do. That’s important when he comes back. Like, he can’t back and be ten pounds heavier or whatever. It’s hard not to be. I would be, for sure,” he joked.

For the first week of the recovery process, Harden will not put any weight on his foot, as instructed by doctors. In the meantime, Harden is away from the team as he tends to a personal situation, per Rivers.

“Not right now, he’s not,” said Rivers when asked if Harden was with the team. “He has a personal problem that we want him to take care of. Not for him, a family issue. So, we want him to take care of that. He’ll be back in three or four days.”

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.