NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal says Philadelphia’s James Harden ‘needs to win a championship’
After a loss to the Mavericks last night, the Philadelphia 76ers are still firmly at third place in the Eastern Conference with a 40-22 record. The playoffs are slowly approaching and the 76ers have one of the most talented teams since the Joel Embiid era started. According to NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, the player on the Sixers who really needs to prove himself in the playoffs this season is James Harden.
On inside the NBA on TNT last night, Shaq made a comment saying that Harden “needs to win a championship”. He also went on to say how he’s one of the players in the league this season who has the most to prove in the playoffs. With 20 games left in the regular season the Sixers will look to play their best basketball moving forward and gear up for a deep postseason run.
At third in the East, Pennsylvania Sports Betting sites have the 76ers at (+1200) to win the Finals this season.
“James [Harden] needs to win a championship.” @SHAQ on the player who has the most to prove this postseason pic.twitter.com/agM4LqPyLQ
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 3, 2023
Four-time NBA champ Shaquille O’Neal says James Harden has the most to prove in this years playoffs
Harden has all the awards a player would ever want in their career. He’s a league MVP, 10x all-star, three-time scoring champ, but is still in search of that coveted Larry O’Brien trophy. The 33 year old has made the NBA Finals one-time. It was early in his career at 22 when he was with the OKC Thunder.
In 12 playoff games with the Sixers last season Harden averaged (18.6) points, (5.7) rebounds, (8.6) assists on (39.9) minutes per game. This season Harden is leading the league with (10.6) assists per game and this would be the second time in his career to do so. He lead the league in assists in the ’16-17 season.
Not only does James Harden have a lot to prove in the playoffs, but so does Joel Embiid. He has not made it past the second-round in five different playoff berths. Harden made the conference finals wo times with Houston and were not able to make the NBA Finals. Winning a championship would cement their legacies in NBA history.
Source: Basketball Insider
