James Harden

James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He is widely regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA history.

In 2021, Harden was honored as one of the league's top 75 players by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

He also helped his AAU team, Pump-N-Run Elite, to the 2006 Las Vegas Adidas Super 64 championship.

Harden had 34 points in the victory over a DC Assault team which included Michael Beasley, Nolan Smith and Austin Freeman.

In the game against Houston Hoops, played on the same day, Harden had 33 points.

In the final, Pump-N-Run Elite beat Kevin Love's Southern California All-Stars.

Harden's freshman year, Arizona State was picked to finish ninth in the Pac-10 Conference.

Behind his 17.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, the Sun Devils went 21–13 (9–9) and finished tied for fifth in the Pac-10.

They were considered a bubble team for the 2008 NCAA tournament.

Left out of the tournament, they were selected to the 2008 NIT field and defeated Alabama State and Southern Illinois before falling to defending national champion Florida.

After his freshman year, Harden was named first-team All-Pac-10 and was named to the conference all-freshman team.

He was also named first team All-District by the NABC and the USBWA.

Entering his sophomore year, Harden appeared on many pre-season All-American lists and on the cover of the Sports Illustrated college basketball preview issue.

He was named to the Wooden Award preseason watch list.

On November 30, 2008, Harden scored a career-high 40 points in an 88–58 victory over UTEP.

Harden finished his sophomore campaign with averages of 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists.

Harden played college basketball for the Arizona State Sun Devils, where he was named a consensus All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2009.

Harden was selected with the third overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

He was named to the 2009 All-Pac 10 Tournament Team following Arizona State's defeat by USC at the Staples Center.

Following the conference season, Harden was named the Pacific-10 Conference's Player of the Year.

He was also named a consensus All-American.

After the conclusion of the season (a second-round NCAA tournament loss to Syracuse), Harden declared for the 2009 NBA draft.

He employed Rob Pelinka as his agent.

Harden was selected with the third overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In 2012, he was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year and helped Oklahoma City reach the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Miami Heat in five games.

After the Thunder refused to offer him a max contract extension, Harden was unwilling to take a pay cut and was subsequently traded to the Houston Rockets before the 2012–13 season.

In his first season with the Rockets, Harden set or matched several team records and was named to his first All-NBA Team (a third-team selection), as well as his first NBA All-Star team.

Over the next seven full seasons with Houston, Harden led the league in scoring three times and assists once, and was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in while leading the Rockets to the Western Conference Finals.

He was also named to seven consecutive NBA All-Star teams and earned All-NBA First Team honors six times.

Harden is also a two-time member of the United States national team, winning gold medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2014 FIBA World Cup.

Harden attended Artesia High School in Lakewood, California.

In his sophomore year, he averaged 13.2 points as Artesia went 28–5.

He improved his stats to 18.8 points, 7.7 boards and 3.5 assists in his junior season and led Artesia to the California state title and a 33–1 record.

Artesia repeated as state champions in Harden's final year after going 33–2.

Harden had similar stats during the previous season: 18.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 3.9 assists.

He was named a McDonald's All-American, and also earned second-team Parade All-American honors.

After requesting a trade at the beginning of the 2020–21 season, Harden was traded to the Brooklyn Nets as part of a four-team trade.

With Brooklyn, he was named to his ninth and tenth consecutive All-Star games before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers at the 2022 trade deadline.

In 2023, Harden led the league in assists for the second time in his career.