James Harden has been an iron man of sorts to this point of his NBA career, but his recent injury might still be providing a cause for concern.
A video clip of the Brooklyn Nets star speaking to campers at former NBA guard TJ Ford’s basketball academy this week went viral. In the clip (h/t NetsDaily), Harden stressed the importance of having a strong work ethic. (Beware there's inappropriate language used in the video.) The former MVP also mentioned in passing that he had just gone through “a light day” because he was “kinda still in rehab.”
We know that Harden was plagued by a hamstring issue last season. He first suffered the injury during the regular season, missing more than a month’s worth of games. Harden then reaggravated his hamstring in Game 1 of Brooklyn’s second-round series against Milwaukee. While he sat out of the next three games, he returned to play in the final three games of the series, logging a steep 46.2 minutes per contest.
Hamstring injuries are notorious for lingering, especially if a player tries to rush back from them. But training camp does not begin for another couple of weeks, and Harden sounds pretty confident about next season. But the nine-time All-Star’s workload and effectiveness will still be worth monitoring as Opening Night 2021 nears.
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