James Harden Makes Surprising Admission About Fitness Amid Cavs' Slow Start to 2026 NBA Season

James Harden had a pretty slow start to the 2026-27 season before Wednesday night's 32 points in a 115-107 win over the New York Knicks.

One of the reasons? Harden didn't play much basketball over the summer and acknowledged he came into training camp relatively out of shape.

"I knew it was going to take a little bit of time to get adjusted to the speed, the pace, all of the above," he told reporters after the Knicks' win. "I'm not young, so I can't just be ready (immediately), so I already knew that coming into the season. So now it's like, all right, cool, (now) I feel really good. And the work is automatically getting put in. That's why I have been able to last so long in this league."

He added that he's "trying to get in really good shape and learn my teammates."

Whether the 37-year-old Harden was trying to carefully manage the workload on his body or just decided on an elongated vacation over the summer is unclear, but it has resulted in rough start to the 2026-27 season.

If Wednesday night is closer to the norm going forward, however, the Cavs will be in far better shape going forward. All because Harden, apparently, has been playing his way into shape to start the season.