Sixers coach Nick Nurse is leaning on past experiences to navigate the James Harden situation
Nurse has been a steady guide for the group internally, while externally fielding a steady stream of questions about Harden’s status and its ripple effect
Nick Nurse recently reflected on his time coaching in the G League, when a winning streak could get interrupted by multiple players being called up to an NBA team.
“And all of a sudden, it was like, ‘Oh my goodness, now what?’” the Sixers head coach said following a recent practice. “But what you do is you get the next guys and move them up, and just get ready to go play. Put the best game plan [that] you can together, and just try to build chemistry quickly.”
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Nurse is leaning on that experience now to navigate the instability around a disgruntled (and now-absent) James Harden. It is up to each Sixers player to remain professional and compartmentalize. Yet Nurse so far has been a steady guide for the group internally, while externally fielding a steady stream of questions about Harden’s status and the ripple effect as his team prepares for next week’s opener at the Milwaukee Bucks.
“The moment that we’re not on the same page, then that becomes a problem,” said Sixers center Joel Embiid in response to a question about Nurse’s leadership throughout the Harden saga. “But I think everybody’s on the same page. The goal is to try to win, no matter who is here.”
Life as an NBA coach requires regular tinkering with a roster that could fluctuate due to injuries, scheduled load management, or other reasons throughout an 82-game regular season. And Nurse has long expressed a need to simultaneously have a Plan A if Harden played for the Sixers, and a Plan B should he not.
That was a possibility long before training camp opened earlier this month. Harden could have declined his $35.6 million player option for this season in late June, then signed elsewhere as a free agent. After opting in and requesting a trade — and then calling president of basketball operations Daryl Morey a “liar” for not fulfilling it by August — Harden did not partake in the Sixers’ unofficial workouts in Philly before departing for Fort Collins, Colo. for camp.
Harden joined his team — and, by consensus accounts from Nurse and teammates, was engaged — at practices from Oct. 4-15, but has not been with the Sixers since then.
That is not preferable for a first-year staff already with so much newness to install and evaluate. Still, Nurse does not believe the Harden situation has become an overwhelming distraction within the team. Veterans such as Embiid and Danny Green, the latter who previously played for Nurse with the Toronto Raptors, have also credited a more mature Sixers roster — including several players who also went through Ben Simmons’ holdout two seasons ago.
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“I don’t think it’s affected us very much at all,” Nurse said. " … There really doesn’t feel like there’s been a need to address anything. Listen, if you’re not fully aware of what’s going on … I think you’re probably asleep a lot or something.”
Added reserve swingman Furkan Korkmaz: “[Nurse has] been a real pro. From the first day of training camp, he just set the tone. And then, we just come in, we do our work and go home. Really, that’s basically it.”
Nurse acknowledged before Friday’s preseason finale against the Atlanta Hawks that his staff had spent this week preparing to move forward without Harden, who skipped practice Wednesday and Thursday and did not play in any of their four exhibition games.
In between, the coaching staff has spent hours poring over lineup combinations to craft an initial rotation. On the floor, meanwhile, Tyrese Maxey displayed the experience he has gained as a lead guard, totaling 12 assists Friday against the Hawks. De’Anthony Melton, who will move into the starting lineup if Harden continues to sit out, scored 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting.
It’s unlikely those Sixers will abruptly leave the roster, like those G League players years ago. Still, consider this the latest bizarre, less-than-ideal circumstance for Nurse to navigate as a head coach. When asked Thursday if he was tired of answering questions about Harden, he replied with a matter-of-fact, “Nope, I’m OK. I get it. It’s a thing right here.”
And yet …
“Stuff moves fast in this league, right?” Nurse said. “The ball’s going up … and you’ve got to go to work and you’ve got to fight and play.”