Summary judgments: Lurie’s strange press conference pivot; Harden losing his legs; NFL kickoff madness

Corrections, clarifications, and updates to the record, non-Phillies edition ...

There was a strange moment during Jeffrey Lurie’s press conference on Tuesday. Midway through answering a question about Nick Sirianni entering 2024 on the hot seat, Lurie suddenly pivoted and began talking about Howie Roseman.

I’m going to transcribe the quote in its entirety, although it is best digested with a brief intermission (which, funny enough, Lurie himself provided).

“Every coach is in a high-pressured situation,” Lurie began. “Nick has had a pretty spectacular first three seasons. He’s shown all the ingredients to have outstanding success. So, I’m just looking forward. There’s no coach that’s not feeling pressure to perform. That’s the way it is in the National Football League. But, wow, no. I mean, I think Nick has all the ingredients, as I’ve said, I’m just really excited about this coming season.”

» READ MORE: Phillies thoughts: Johan Rojas should stay (for now); Orion Kerkering concerns; evaluating the bullpen hype

If Lurie ended there, then we could spend our time delving into his awkward attempt to speak enthusiastically about his head coach without actually saying anything of substance on his behalf. Twice, he mentioned how Sirianni has “all of the ingredients” without actually specifying what those ingredients were. For all we know, Lurie thinks Sirianni makes a dynamite soufflé.

The CliffsNotes version: Hell yeah, he’s on the hot seat going into next season.

Except, wow, no, Lurie didn’t end there. Didn’t even take a breath before executing one of the hardest pivots this side of the Federal Reserve.

“Our roster development, I think, Howie was — you didn’t ask about it, but — extremely analytic, self-critical, and has an ability to see where we can be much better,” Lurie continued, “and has the ability also to have a strategy of how to get there. You can say, OK, we need this, we need this, we need this. That’s not how Howie operates. It’s much more multiple than that. And it’s understanding evaluation of where different positions are in the league, where the league is headed in certain ways so that you can be a little different, where can you have advantages both on contract structure, on planning ahead, resources, draft allocation. And he has a great staff. People don’t talk about that enough. He has an outstanding support staff in all aspects and we pay a lot of attention to the ability to construct contracts that gives us opportunities to have distinct advantages in the league, and we’ll stick to that approach.”

Again, keep in mind the original question. Here was the exact wording:

You are speaking highly of Nick, but the perception on the outside is that he is on the hot seat going into the season, maybe he’s on a short leash — can you speak on his job security going into next season?

Even if the transition from Sirianni to Roseman did come across as totally natural — you can watch the video and be the judge of that — the final word count shows Lurie spending twice as long extolling Roseman’s strengths as he does vouching for Sirianni.

What should we make of it? I have no idea. I’m just flagging the answer as interesting. Did he intentionally draw Roseman into a conversation about hot seats and job security? Was he trying to do Sirianni a solid by making it a table for two? Was he simply flummoxed by an uncomfortable topic and desperate to shift the conversation to something, anything else? Regardless of intent, does it mean anything that he spent an extended period of time effusively praising Roseman?

Let’s bookmark it for future consideration ...

Whatever boos James Harden gets in his return to the Wells Fargo Center, they are going to ring hollow.

Look, Harden deserves every ounce of the scorn that will be heaped upon him when the Clippers visit the Sixers on Wednesday night. He handled this summer’s exit about as poorly as a 34-year-old working adult is capable of.

Thing is, he doesn’t have much to regret. At least, not once you take shame out of the equation. Harden never really offered a specific explanation for why he wanted to move on. But he’s a lot closer to a title right now in Los Angeles than he would be if he was still with the Sixers. The Celtics would still be the Celtics, Joel Embiid would still be hurt, and Harden would still be a player who can’t be expected to carry a primary scoring load on a championship-caliber team. Sure, the Sixers would be better. But even if Embiid ends up returning from his knee surgery, Harden and the Sixers would still be wondering if he can get back to the level that would make this team a contender.

» READ MORE: James Harden is the product of an NBA that has jumped the shark

Things may not turn out any better for the Clippers. They’ve lost six of their last nine — including a 121-107 home loss to the Sixers on Sunday — and are 10-12 in their last 22. Meanwhile, Harden might be losing his legs. In his last eight games, he is shooting just .389 from the field and .308 from three-point range while averaging 13.1 points. But then, that only furthers the argument that he needs two healthy stars around him ...

I’m ambivalent about the NFL’s new kickoff format, mostly because I don’t understand it.

All I know is this: Don’t be the parents whose kid insists on playing by the new rules in backyard football games.