Led by Joel Embiid who has somehow surpassed his numbers from last season when he was named Most Valuable Player, fans have been accustomed to the Philadelphia 76ers posting eye-popping stats on a nightly basis both on an individual and team level.
The 76ers currently have the second-best offensive rating and register the fourth-most points per game this season. Aside from Embiid, Tyrese Maxey has morphed into an elite scoring threat and a much-improved passer. Tobias Harris, Kelly Oubre Jr., and De’Anthony Melton are also logging some of, if not their best seasons yet.
But speaking of numbers, Philadelphia also houses a player who turns out to be a statistical outlier in and of itself, as uncovered by a writer just recently.
76ers fans won’t believe this writer’s mind-blowing discovery on Tobias Harris
Tobias Harris has long been one of the most reliable tertiary scoring options in the league. While his defense has never been suspect enough to deem exploitable, it’s certainly far from his calling card. Still, this insane discovery by Mike O’Connor, who covers the 76ers for RTRS Podcast, broke social media —- and it’s not difficult to see why.
I've just uncovered an absolutely insane stat
— Mike O'Connor (@MOConnor_NBA) December 12, 2023
Per https://t.co/h6XI2CPmHF, Tobias Harris has never drawn a charge in his 5+ years as a Sixer. Not once. It has never happened.
Drawing charges don’t automate as a showing of good defense, but for the most part, it’s a component in the nuts and bolts of exerting effort on that end. Heck, some players are renowned for their savvy ability to draw charges to the chagrin of opposing players. Some are even notoriously branded as “floppers” for that very reason.
Still, that Harris has never drawn a charge since donning Philadelphia’s colorway is absurd no matter how you look at it. The veteran forward mainly relies on how he leverages his body to handle post-ups and cover ground in the perimeter, but one would think that any player can tally at least a handful over the course of a season, especially if that player has long averaged north of 30 minutes per outing.
To shed some perspective on how mind-blowing that is, Montrezl Harrell, who logged just 11.9 minutes per game last season for the 76ers in only 57 appearances, led the team with 12 charges drawn. Georges Niang, now of the Cavaliers, came second with nine a game.
Now, this is definitely not a knack on Tobias Harris, who has been rock-solid for the Philadelphia 76ers this season despite his recent slump and his waning importance to the roster. At the very least, fans now have an interesting prompt for a stat to monitor on a nightly basis — that is, if it will ever register.
History says it won’t.