Enjoy Basketball: Why you're sleeping on the 76ers

Rise and shine, Enjoyers of Basketball!

Or... Enjoyers of Fashion? Kenny is a huge sneaker head, so let us ask you this:

Honestly, we think PG13's are a sleeper pick. They're so underrated and exactly what you need out of a hooping shoe, nothing more and nothing less. But we want to hear from you! Reply to this email with your favorite basketball sneaker and color way of all time!

Moving from kicks to court, we've reflected on recent quotes from Philadelphia's James Harden and have come to a conclusion: the time is now. For why we think he's still got what it takes to rise to the occasion, read below.

Usually we don't take tremendous stock in the pandering on social media or generalities that players often spew during interviews. Of course they'll say they want to win or become better. However, Harden's words resonated deeply with us at Enjoy Basketball:

Critics of James Harden's career have often suggested that he cares more about stats than wins. This offseason is proving the haters wrong. It's one thing for a player to appease a fanbase by saying he cares about winning. It's another thing to take a major ($15 million) pay cut. It's something only a few stars - Dwayne Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan - have done. Money talks. Pure winners. 

Harden also implied he lacked confidence during his tumultuous journey last season, but now that's ready to change.

A frustrating trait of the broader NBA fan community is its goldfish-like memory. The perspective is never "what have you done?" but instead "what have you done lately?" While the recent past is most indicative of how well a player will perform in the near future, it's not the end all be all. Recency bias removes nuance and context, and that's a problem.

For the past two seasons, James Harden has been battling a hamstring injury and discontent for his franchise. Is the second reason legitimate? Debatable. But, it probably did affect him.

Harden admits in this quote that he hasn't been himself but that's going to change as he recovers, gets into better shape, and regains his confidence. So, let's remind ourselves how damn good The Beard has been.

If James Harden is healthy, then the combination of him and Joel Embiid will quite literally be the best guard/center combination since Kobe and Shaq. Its so scary how little we've seen of them together. They've only played 21 games together, and have a 14-7 record in those games. Strictly in games where the tandem play, Joel is averaging 33 points and 13 rebounds, while Harden is averaging 21 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists. The pairing particularly works because Harden is such a prolific passer, perennially topping assists charts.

Now, what does Harden’s pay cut mean for the 76ers? As uneventful as this free agency has been, Philly has made some shrewd moves around the edges. They brought in PJ Tucker on a 3 year/$30 million deal. The length of the contract for the 37-year-old forward is concerning, but the 76ers' championship window is in the next two years. It doesn't take much agility to stand in the corner and snipe threes or play sturdy post defense. Plus, getting access to his killer shoe collection is worth an easy $10mil alone.

Additionally, they traded the 23rd pick (which later became David Roddy) and a heavily injured Danny Green for Grizzlies' De'Anthony Melton. The former Grizz guard will bolster the Philly bench and is a good shooter and elite positional rebounder and defender. Finally, they signed a team-friendly deal with 3&D wing Danuel House, who has played his best basketball with Harden in Houston. 

Kenrich Williams warms hearts with big contract extension

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kenrich Williams has agreed on a four-year, $27.2 million contract extension. While this isn't typical headline news, we wanted to include it because its the success story that embodies Enjoy Basketball. Williams received zero Division 1 offers out of high school and went undrafted in 2018 after a few years at TCU. The 27 year old, nicknamed "Kenny Hustle," averaged 7.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 22 minutes a game last year for the Thunder. While the first NBA paycheck transforms an undrafted player's life, his second contract changes the lives of his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Shoutout Kenny Hustle for proving that hard work and resilience pays off.

The first "good read" is one written about us! Below you can see an excerpt of an article by Colin Salao of Business Insider about Kenny and how he created Enjoy Basketball:

Here are some other good pieces:

Jeremy Sochan Is the Spurs’ Latest International Man of Mystery - Damian Burchardt, (The Ringer)

Steph Curry steps out of comfort zone as host of The ESPYS - Beth Harris, (Associated Press)

10 studs and duds from Day 11 of NBA Summer League in Las Vegas - Ethan Fuller (Basketball News)

Adrian Wojnarowski vs. Shams Charania Is the Most Intense Rivalry in the NBA—and Its Emptiest - Corbin Smith (The Daily Beast)

That's where we leave you. If you take away one message from this newsletter today, try to be mindful of recency bias. Basketball is a game of runs. Teams have their ups and downs, and in turn so do players. We're here for both and everything in between!

- Conor Geelan

Last Trivia Answer: The only two second-round picks to ever win the NBA Summer League MVP are Glen Rice Jr (2014) and Josh Selby (2012).

Today’s Trivia Question: There are 5 current NBA players with exactly three championships, and they're all role players. Name as many as you can!