99 Facts About James Harden

James Harden 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.

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

James 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

James Harden was named first team All-District by the NABC and the USBWA.

James Harden was named to the Wooden Award preseason watch list.

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

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

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

James Harden connected on seven straight 3-point field goals over two games, recording the most consecutive 3-point makes by a rookie since Houston guard Michael Dickerson made eight straight in May 1999.

James Harden was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team at the conclusion of the season.

James Harden scored in double-figures in all but four of his appearances during the season.

James Harden scored a season-high 40 points against Phoenix on April 18,2012, becoming the first NBA player in a reserve role to score 40 points since Dallas guard Rodrigue Beaubois in March 2010.

James Harden helped the Thunder reach the 2012 NBA Finals, where they were defeated in five games by the Miami Heat.

James Harden later contended that he was given too little time to consider the offer.

On October 31,2012, James Harden signed a contract extension with the Rockets for five years worth $80 million.

James Harden became just the fourth NBA player in the last 25 years to post those totals in a single game and matched the third-highest point total for any NBA player in his team debut.

James Harden registered the first triple-double of his career on February 2,2013, against the Charlotte Bobcats, recording 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

James Harden was named as a reserve for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game, marking his first All-Star selection.

James Harden had one of the greatest statistical seasons in team history in his first campaign with Houston.

James Harden became just the fifth player in team history to reach 2,000 points in one campaign.

James Harden surpassed Moses Malone's team mark for free throws made in a season, joining Malone as the only two Rockets players to ever reach 600 free throws made in a single season.

James Harden joined Gilbert Arenas, Kobe Bryant and Jerry Stackhouse as the only four players in NBA history to record at least 600 free throws made and hit 150 or more 3-pointers in one season.

James Harden joined Tracy McGrady and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only Rockets to ever capture Player of the Week honors three or more times in one season.

James Harden was selected by the head coaches as a reserve for the 2014 NBA All-Star Game, which marked his second consecutive All-Star selection.

James Harden was later named as a replacement starter for the All-Star Game.

James Harden was the first Rockets player ever to pick up Western Conference Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks in the same season.

On December 26,2013, against the Memphis Grizzlies, James Harden became the first player in NBA history to register at least 27 points on two or fewer field goals made, finishing with a career best 22-of-25 from the stripe and tying the Rockets single-game record for free throws made.

On February 5,2014, against the Phoenix Suns, James Harden became just the third player to score at least 3,000 points in his first 120 games played with the Rockets, joining Elvin Hayes and Tracy McGrady.

James Harden helped the Rockets win their first division title since 1994 and clinched the No 2 seed in the Western Conference.

James Harden was again named to the All-NBA First Team, and finished second in the NBA MVP voting behind Stephen Curry.

In Game 5 of the Rockets' second round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers, James Harden recorded his first career playoff triple-double with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

In Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors, James Harden scored a playoff career-high 45 points.

In Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, James Harden had a forgettable finale, with a playoff-record 13 turnovers and 14 points on 2-of-11 shooting.

McHale later believed James Harden had intentionally showed up to camp overweight to get McHale fired in retaliation for benching him in the Clippers series.

On January 20, James Harden became the first player to have at least 33 points, 17 rebounds and 14 assists in a game since Wilt Chamberlain had 53 points, 32 rebounds and 14 assists for Philadelphia in March 1968.

James Harden finished March with 457 points, 152 assists and 102 rebounds, becoming the first player to record at least 450 points, 150 assists and 100 rebounds in a single month since Oscar Robertson did it in December 1967.

On July 9,2016, James Harden signed a four-year, $118.1 million contract extension with the Rockets.

James Harden set career highs for points and three-pointers and matched his career best for assists.

James Harden played just 29 minutes against the Suns to become the first Rockets player since Sleepy Floyd in 1991 to score 40 points in less than 30 minutes.

James Harden finished the regular season with 22 triple-doubles and became the first player in NBA history to finish the regular season with at least 2,000 points, 900 assists and 600 rebounds.

James Harden ended the regular season as the league leader in assists, averaging 11.2 assists per game.

James Harden placed second in league MVP voting to former teammate Westbrook.

James Harden tied his season low of 10 points, shooting 2-of-11 before fouling out with 3:15 remaining.

James Harden joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to have at least 10 assists and shoot better than 75 percent from the field in a 50-point performance.

James Harden went on to become the first player in team history to score at least 20 points in each of the team's first 20 games of a season.

James Harden set a franchise record by scoring at least 20 points in his 30th straight game.

James Harden became the first NBA player to score 50 or more in consecutive games since Kobe Bryant did so in four straight in March 2007.

James Harden scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to eclipse the 57 points Calvin Murphy scored in 1978 to break Houston's single-game scoring record.

James Harden was only 2-of-13 on 3-pointers, and Houston made just 7 of 44, including 27 straight misses.

James Harden made eight 3-pointers to extend his NBA record to 12 games in a row with at least five.

James Harden became the ninth player in NBA history to make 2,000 3-pointers in their career.

James Harden's 24 shot attempts are the fewest ever in a 60-point game in NBA history.

James Harden became the fourth player in NBA history with multiple games of 10 or more 3-pointers, joining Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and JR Smith.

James Harden became the first player in NBA history to have 50+ points and 10+ 3PM in back-to-back games.

James Harden finished the decade as the NBA's leading scorer with 19,578 points going back to January 1,2010, despite beginning his career as a sixth man with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

James Harden became the league's scoring champion for the third season in a row and the league leader in total steals.

James Harden additionally became a finalist for the MVP award and was named to the NBA's All-Seeding First Team.

James Harden demanded a trade in November 2020, and reported to training camp late.

On January 14,2021, James Harden was traded to the Nets in a four-team deal which involved the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers, sending Rodions Kurucs, Dante Exum, Victor Oladipo, four first-round draft picks and four first-round pick swaps to the Rockets.

James Harden set the record for being the first player in NBA history to post a 30-point triple-double debut performance, while setting a franchise record for the most assists in a player's first game with the Nets.

James Harden averaged 31.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 10.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

James Harden now sits at 34th overall with 21,792 points, one more point than Bird.

James Harden became the fourth player in NBA history with 100 40-point games and became second all-time in 40-point triple-doubles with 16, behind only Oscar Robertson who had 24.

James Harden set a record for being the first player in franchise history to earn Player of the Month honors in consecutive months.

On February 3, James Harden was named an Eastern Conference reserve for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, making his tenth straight All-Star selection.

James Harden became the first player in NBA history to record 25 plus points and 10 or more assists in his first two games with a new team.

Philadelphia was eliminated by Miami in Game 6, when James Harden scored 11 points and committed four turnovers.

James Harden joined LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history with 23,000 career points and 6,500 career assists.

James Harden joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in Sixers history to put up a 20-assist triple-double and his 21 assists tied Chamberlain and Maurice Cheeks for the most assists in a game in Sixers history.

James Harden passed Allen Iverson for No 26 on the league's all-time scoring list.

James Harden hit a go-ahead three-pointer in the final seconds of the fourth in a game heavily favored towards Boston due to an injury to Joel Embiid.

James Harden joined Jerry West, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant as the only guards in NBA history to put up at least 10 40-point playoff games.

James Harden became the 24th player in NBA history to score 25,000 career points.

On July 10,2024, James Harden re-signed with the Clippers on a two-year, $70 million contract.

James Harden became the 20th player in NBA history to reach 26,000 points in his career.

James Harden scored his 3,000th career three-pointer, joining Curry as the only players to reach the milestone.

On January 30,2025, James Harden was named as reserve for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game, his eleventh selection.

James Harden became the 13th player in NBA history to score 27,000 career points.

James Harden is the highest all-time left-handed scorer in NBA history.

James Harden possesses a wide array of offensive moves; two of the most prominent among them being his Euro step and his step-back jumper.

James Harden is the all-time NBA leader in unassisted three-point makes.

James Harden is the all-time franchise leader in assists for the Rockets.

James Harden's improved defense carried over to the following season, and has been cited as a major reason for the Rockets' regular season success.

James Harden has received criticism for not being clutch in key playoff games.

James Harden was a member of the United States national team that won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, and was a member of the team that won the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2014.

James Harden was a candidate for the 2016 Olympics, but he withdrew from the team.

James Harden has talked about his faith, saying, "I just want to thank God for everything he has done in my life".

James Harden started growing his trademark beard in 2009 after being too lazy to shave.

James Harden's beard has appeared in songs and T-shirts, and it earned him an endorsement and a unique candy with Trolli's where a depiction of his face and beard was shown on each gummy.

On July 18,2019, James Harden became a part owner in Houston's professional soccer teams; the Houston Dynamo of MLS and the Houston Dash of NWSL.

James Harden explained his decision by saying "Houston is my home now, and I saw this as a way to invest in my city and expand my business interests at the same time" as well as "This is my city and I'm here to stay".