The Philadelphia 76ers went out and got tougher in the offseason when they brought in PJ Tucker at the outset of free agency. With the Sixers being ousted by Tucker and the Miami Heat in Round 2 of the 2022 playoffs, they knew they needed to make some additions to the roster.
The Sixers made Tucker their main priority as he has experience playing next to James Harden and he brings the toughness and two-way ability that the team needs to succeed. He has a championship under his belt in 2021 with the Milwaukee Bucks and he was one win away from the finals again in 2022 with the Heat.
Tucker sat down with John Clark on the “Takeoff with John Clark” podcast to discuss training with Allen Iverson back in the day, Joel Embiid’s comments about him, his age, and what Harden brings to the table.
It’s actually like a weird kind of full circle because nobody really knows about it. Back in the day, just coming up here working out, and just being here. Playing pickup. Going to PCOM, just being around in Philly for my first few years. So now 17 years later be back here, it’s kind of crazy.
I used to see Allen in there all the time. I used to see Lou (Williams) in there all the time so it was cool.
I think he’s one of the very few people to be able to have that kind of iconic impact on the city, on the team, on the entire environment here, the makeup, the coach, of basketball everywhere! I’m from North Carolina and he was everything so it was pretty cool.
It’s always appreciated. When you go out and battle against guys Jo, I thought was the MVP last year of the season, he just had an amazing season. He was really hard to guard. We battled. Even with the injury to his face, he still came out and battled for his team. For somebody that you go to battle with like that to say that after the series, it shows how big of a person he is to do that in a loss last, but same time, it’s a good rewarding feeling to win and have somebody say that.
I think he’s a lot different now. I think the James from five years ago was a real stat stuffer. He really would have crazy triple-doubles and all the exciting things that gets fans involved, but I think now he’s got smarter. Work smarter, not harder. Having a great player like Joel, who’s probably one of three to five best players in the league, he doesn’t have to do that anymore. Now he can distribute, score when…
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