A year and a half ago, James Harden's rapport with the Brooklyn Nets reportedly deteriorated partly because of his rocky working relationship with the former head coach Steve Nash and the team's star player, Kevin Durant. Thus paving the way for his exit from the Nets to the Philadelphia 76ers via a blockbuster trade involving Ben Simmons. Around that same time, Rachel Nichols, the NBA analyst, and co-creator of The Jump on ESPN, was also navigating her way through an inevitable breakup with her employer after audio leaked from her commentary about why her bosses chose Maria Taylor over her for a promotion to cover the NBA Finals; a job that many believed Rachel rightfully earned. 

Today, James Harden and Rachel Nichols are both enjoying a bit of a resurgence in the world of professional basketball. Harden's scoring (21.7) and assists averages (11.1) are up from last year, and the Philadelphia 76ers are currently the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, Rachel is co-producing her upcoming series with Showtime called Headliners. On Tuesday, the two crossed paths after the 76ers road win over the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena. The following day, Rachel took to Instagram to post photos of her postgame discussions with 76ers stars Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and James Harden. The image of Rachel standing next to James Harden was quickly reposted by SportsVille, who was the first to notice something peculiar about the physical condition of Harden's feet--they appeared to be severely battered, which caused several fans to weigh in on the matter with jokes, while others seemed more concerned about the toll that a professional sports career takes on an athlete's body. Deion Sanders had well-documented issues maintaining the condition of his feet (due to turf toe), which ultimately contributed to him having two of his toes amputated several decades after he played his last NFL game.

The pictures have since gone viral. Scroll up to take a look.

Source: Instagram