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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.[1][2][3][4][5] In 2021, Harden was honored as one of the league's top 75 players by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.[6]
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. 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 2018 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.
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. 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.
- ^ Martin, Gus (July 23, 2020). "Ranking The Top 10 Pure Scorers In NBA History". Fadeaway World. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
- ^ Schuhmann, John (October 20, 2015). "2015–16 GM Survey". NBA.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
- ^ Blinebury, Frank (October 12, 2015). "Harden stands out among pack of top shooting guards". NBA.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
- ^ Bailey, Andy (September 13, 2019). "NBA All-Time Player Rankings: Top 10 Shooting Guards". BleacherReport.com. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
- ^ "20 greatest shooting guards ever: The HoopsHype list". HoopsHype.com. September 24, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
- ^ "NBA 75th Anniversary Team announced". NBA.com. October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.