The Philadelphia 76ers were faced a rude awakening as the Brooklyn Nets came to town on Thursday night. Instead of flexing his new squad against his old one, James Harden largely struggled in a 129-100 beatdown in favor of the visitors.

During the Inside the NBA postgame analysis, Charles Barkley didn't mince words on what he saw from James Harden. The Sixers guard finished with just 11 points on a brutal 2-for-17 shooting clip. He ended up going scoreless in the second half.

“James is a terrific player, a great player,” said Barkley on the Sixers star. “But when the lights are the brightest, he's played awful.”

Barkley went further in emphasizing the ramifications the trade has on both sides.

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“The Sixers have to win a championship in my opinion the next two years or that's going to go down as one of the worst trades ever. The reason I wasn't crazy about the trade, the Nets are going to have KD, Kyrie and Ben Simmons probably for the next 10 years. I think the Sixers have to win this year, or next year.”

It's hard to see a scenario wherein a trade netting your team a former MVP still playing at a high level could ever be on a “worst trade ever” list. It's a pretty flawed take overall from the Chuckster considering he made the absurd assertion that the Nets would have Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons for the next 10 years. KD would be 43 by then, six years older than LeBron James is this season.

But hyperbolic assertions aside, James Harden's performance against his former team showed off his worst side, one Sixers fans may grow wary of as the postseason inevitably draws closer. He'll have the best chance of his career, as he's healthy and alongside a player ranked higher than him on the totem pole in Joel Embiid, to erase the losing narrative around him.