James Harden Short biography
James Harden is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA history. Harden was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
Harden played college basketball for Arizona State, where he was named a consensus All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2009. He 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 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 2018. He was also named to seven consecutive NBA All-Star teams and earned All-NBA First Team honors six times.
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.
