James Harden joins Daryl Morey and Joel Embiid in clapping back at Ty Lue after his comments about their free throws.
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Joel Embiid and James Harden have been heavily criticized throughout the season for the number of free throws they get. That is partly because they make most of those free throws.
Ty Lue in particular came off pretty hard on the duo before his team’s clash against Philly last month. The Clippers coach seemed frustrated with the officiating and was bitter about the Philly duo getting numerous trips to the free-throw line throughout the campaign.
“Embiid is number one in the league from the free-throw line, and James is number three. So, I think it said if you take away their free throws, neither of those guys would be in the top 10 in scoring. So, that just tells you how much they’re getting to the free-throw line.” said Lue.
As they combined for 19 trips to the free-throw line, making 18 of them in a 122-97 win against the Clips, Daryl Morey and Embiid responded to coach Lue’s comments and put even more fuel into the fire. And now Harden has his say on the subject.
James Harden claps back at Ty Lue
The Philadelphia 76ers have two of the Top-3 players from the free throw attempts and free throws made a chart for the 2021-22 season. While Embiid comes first, Harden is second in both categories with Giannis Antetokounmpo in between them in both rankings. While talking to Complex, the All-Star guard finally had his say on the matter.
“I don’t even pay attention to it, free throws are a part of the game. You look at who leads the league, Joel and Giannis, what about if you take away their free throws? I don’t understand what that comment meant.” the 10x All-Star said.
He is right actually, why would anyone take away free throws? It’s like saying “take Dirk Nowitzki’s fadeaway or Kareem’s Skyhook away and..”. Free throws are the bread and butter for the Beard and he will use them to win games as much as he can irrespective of what anybody says.
Harden further said, “Free throws are a part of the game. It’s on the defense to have discipline and not foul. That’s what coaches should be teaching their players. For me I don’t pay attention to it, I just try to go out there and make an impact on the game in a positive way every night.”
He is averaging at least 2 fewer attempts per game since the league has brought a rule against his and a few other players’ foul-drawing techniques. Instead of being happy about that, getting on his head for drawing legal fouls is just hate towards him and nothing more.
