Charles Barkley to James Harden: “You Got More Pressure on You Than Any Player in the Playoffs. ”
Charles Barkley played eight seasons in Philadelphia and experienced the weight of never winning a championship with the Sixers.
It is why the TNT analyst scoffed at James Harden saying this week that he isn’t feeling any pressure entering the playoffs following his midseason trade from the Nets.
“James Harden, you said you don’t feel no pressure? Man, you better think again,” Barkley said on the air Friday night. “Them people in Philadelphia ain’t gonna be having you going out there and playing bad.
“So you can sit — I don’t want to call it deflection or whatever — you got more pressure on you than any player in the playoffs. Good luck, now, ‘cause my Sixers, I love y’all Sixers and my Suns, but James, don’t tell that lie.”
The Sixers, who haven’t won an NBA title since 1983, enter their first-round playoff series against the Raptors as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. They went 19-9 following Harden’s acquisition from the Nets with Paul Millsap on Feb. 10 in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond.
“Pressure? No, I feel good,” Harden told reporters on Thursday. “I’m ready to hoop. There’s nothing to it.”
Harden averaged 21.0 points and 10.5 assists over 21 appearances following the trade, but biut he and MVP candidate Joel Embiid are seeking their first championship rings in their respective NBA careers.
“I tell him to be himself. He’s been doing a great job of being the playmaker, but we need him to be aggressive and really score the ball, especially against Toronto,” Embiid said. “He just has to be himself, and not worry about people talking about pressure.”
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