James Harden Discusses Injury Following 76ers Practice
After being sidelined for the last two weeks, Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden addressed the media on Thursday afternoon.
While Harden wasn't an active participant in Thursday's practice session beyond spectating and getting some shots up, the star guard offered a personal update on where he's at with his rehabilitation process.
"I feel good," said Harden. "I'm on pace, starting to slowly ramp it up a little bit. Been running on the treadmill a little bit with some resistance and things like that, been doing some pool workouts. We've got a plan, a script that we're trying to stick to. All in all, I feel good."
Harden entered the 2022-2023 NBA season healthy and ready to prove his doubters wrong. As the All-Star guard battled a hamstring injury over the last two seasons, Harden wasn’t the best version of himself as his scoring numbers took a noticeable dip.
In 44 games with the Brooklyn Nets last year, Harden put up 22 points per game. After getting traded to the 76ers, he averaged 21 points per game in 21 games. Then in the playoffs, the star guard struggled as he averaged fewer than 20 points in the postseason for the first time since his final year in Oklahoma City in 2012.
Going into the 2022 offseason, Harden was confident that being injury-free would help him get back to being the best version of himself in 2022-2023. Entering his first full season with the Sixers, Harden kept the same energy as he avoided setbacks throughout the offseason.
Through Philadelphia’s first four games, Harden averaged 26 points and 10 assists before they hit the road for a four-game road trip. While Harden’s scoring numbers took a noticeable dip during that time, he averaged more assists and helped lead the Sixers to a 3-1 run on the road.
When the Sixers returned home on November 2 to host the Washington Wizards, Harden suffered a setback during his 35-minute shift. After dropping 24 points while producing ten assists in the ten-point loss against the Wizards, Harden underwent testing on his foot.
An MRI the following morning revealed that Harden suffered a tendon strain in his right foot. According to an initial report, Harden was expected to be sidelined for a month, keeping him off the floor until early December.
"The first week was basically letting everything fall back into place," Harden explained. "Then you kind of just build up from there. You got the rehab, the pool workouts, the AlterG, and the treadmill, but it's helping you run at a nice pace. Once the pain fully goes away, then you start going to the court. Then you got just a week of building the cardio up and things like that. I feel good."
Harden couldn't say for sure when he intends to return, but it seems the initially reported timeline of one month is around when the star guard is targeting to get back onto the floor. For the time being, Harden will remain a spectator as the Sixers continue their schedule on Friday night.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
