A couple of weeks ago, some of Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue's comments about Sixers superstars James Harden and Joel Embiid were taken out of context. Lue was trying to explain how difficult it was to stop both stars, but the part about his statement that blew up was how he said that Harden and Embiid would not be in the Top 10 in the NBA in scoring without their free throws.
Harden recently responded to Lue's comments about how much he gets to the free-throw line and the Sixers All-Star admitted that he didn't quite comprehend what Lue was trying to say:
“I don’t even pay attention to it,” Harden admitted, via Zion Olojede of Compex. “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. 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.”
For what it's worth, here is the full statement from Tyronn Lue about the Sixers duo:
Here’s Ty Lue’s full pregame comments on Sixers stars Joel Embiid and James Harden, some of which were taken out of context before last night’s game. pic.twitter.com/1aOQGdNtUK
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 26, 2022
To be fair, Harden gets to the free-throw line quite a lot. So does Embiid. Nevertheless, this is not a knock on either Sixers star. As Harden said, this is simply part of the game. It's not his fault that he's mastered this particular area of the sport. It's up to opposing defenses to address this threat, and I believe this is exactly what Lue was trying to say in his statement.
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