76ers are historically thriving without James Harden

The 2023-24 NBA season is still in its infancy, but the Philadelphia 76ers are thriving early at historical levels. Furthermore, they're doing it all without former point guard James Harden. 

Four of five starters for the Sixers are averaging more than 20 points per game, including center Joel Embiid (29.4), point guard Tyrese Maxey (26.2), shooting guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (21.0) and power forward Tobias Harris (20.0). 

According to Josh Schrager of NBC Sports Philadelphia, the Sixers are the first team in NBA history to have four players average 20 points or more through their team's first five games. 

Schrager added further context, revealing that the last time Philly had four players average 20 points more over any five-game stretch was in 1967 (Hal Greer, Wilt Chamberlain, Wali Jones, Billy Cunningham).

For those needing more up-to-date context, in the Sixers most recent victory, they convincingly handled the Phoenix Suns, 112-100, to improve to 4-1. Embiid (26), Oubre (25) and Maxey (22) all topped 20 points in the win, while Harris (18) came up a basket short. 

While the Sixers are thriving, Harden ended up where he wanted after an offseason of turmoil. However, before ever playing a game in LA, Harden had already made headlines during his first press conference as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers. 

After claiming to be "the system" and not a system player, Harden complained the Sixers kept him on a leash despite finishing with an 8.6% time of possession, second in the NBA to Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic (9.1%).

The comments prompted a response from the reigning MVP, who disagreed with Harden's viewpoint. 

“I just feel like we allowed him to just be himself," Embiid said via Dave Uram of KYW Newsradio. "We gave him the ball every single possession because he’s really good. He’s an amazing player.”

Regardless of who is wrong or right, the short and largely fruitless Harden era in Philly is over, and the Sixers seem all the better for it.