James Harden

James was in the news for being in a relationship with Khloé Kardashian in the summer of 2015. The couple broke up the following year because of his apparent discomfort with the media attention.

He was previously rumoured to be in relationships with rapper Trina and ‘Instagram’ model Jessyka Janshel.

In 2015, he signed an endorsement deal of $200 million with ‘Adidas’ for the next 13 years. His trademark beard has its own following on social media.

James Edward Harden Jr. was born on August 26, 1989, in Los Angeles, California, to Monja Wills and James Harden Sr. His father was in the ‘US Navy’ at the time of his birth, and his mother worked as an administrator with ‘AT&T’ in Pasadena.

James’s father spent a lot of time in jail due to his drug issues. James thus detached himself from his father and still refuses to use “Jr.” as part of his name.

James spent most of his early life in the ‘Rancho Dominguez’ section of Compton. He had two siblings: a half-brother named Akili Roberson and a sister named Arnique Jelks.

James attended the ‘Artesia High School’ in Lakewood, California. He then joined ‘Arizona State’ and played for them.

James started playing basketball while in school and continued through college, before he became a professional. He led ‘Artesia’ to 28–5 in his sophomore year.

In his junior year, he led ‘Artesia’ to the California state title, with a record of 33–1, and then 33–2 in the final year, with the tag of state champions intact. He was named a ‘McDonald's All-American’ and also earned his place on the second-team of ‘Parade All-American.’

He also helped his ‘AAU’ team, ‘Pump-N-Run Elite,’ win the 2006 ‘Las Vegas Adidas Super 64 Championship.’ However, his freshman year at ‘Arizona State’ was not exactly a dream.

His team, the ‘Sun Devils,’ was considered to be one of the weakest teams in the ‘Pac-10.’ With sophomore point man Derek Glasser and junior forward Ty Pendergraph, James led his team to a 9–9 conference record by achieving an overall score of 21–13 and tied for the fifth spot in the ‘Pac-10.’

The ‘Sun Devils’ missed the 2008 ‘NCAA Tournament’ but played in the ‘National Invitation Tournament’ (NIT) instead, winning twice, before the ‘Florida Gators’ defeated them. James was made part of the first-team of ‘All-Pac-10’ and was also named to the conference all-freshman team.

Harden was picked as third overall by the ‘Oklahoma City Thunder’ for the 2009 ‘NBA Draft’ during the 2009–2010 season. Harden became the fourth-highest 3-point percentage-scorer under the age of 21 for ‘NBA.’

He scored a season-high 26 points against the ‘Golden State Warriors’ in 2009 and was named to the ‘NBA-All-Rookie’ second team. By 2011–2012, he had become an important part of the team, with a season-high score of 40 against the ‘Phoenix Suns,’ which made him the first ‘NBA’ player in a reserve role to score 40 points, after Rodrigue Beaubois.

He also won the ‘NBA Sixth Man of the Year’ award. He helped the ‘Thunder’ reach the ‘NBA Finals,’ where they were defeated by the ‘Miami Heat.’

In 2012, Harden signed a contract extension for $80 million with the ‘Houston Rockets,’ which was the result of the inability of Harden and the ‘Thunder’ to reach a conclusive deal. During the season, he delivered remarkable statistics, averaging 25.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 5.8 assists.

His statistics made him the fifth player in the history of ‘NBA’ to reach 2,000 points in a single campaign. He joined the league of Gilbert Arenas, Kobe Bryant, and Jerry Stackhouse, to become the fourth player to record at least 600 free throws and hit 150 or more 3-pointers in one season.