James Edward Harden Jr.

(born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for

the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden played college
basketball for Arizona State, 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.[1] In 2012, he was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year with the Thunder
and helped the team reach the NBA Finals.
Harden was traded to Houston prior to the 2012–13 NBA season. Upon joining the Rockets, Harden
became one of the NBA's most prolific scorers and earned recognition as the best shooting guard in
the NBA,[2][3] as well as one of the top overall players in the league.[4] He has earned All-Star nods five
times, and has earned All-NBA Team honors three times as well – once to the All-NBA third team
(2013) and twice to the All-NBA first team (2014 and 2015). In 2015, Harden was awarded the first
National Basketball Players Association MVP Award, being voted by his peers as the league's most
valuable player.[5]
Harden is a two-time member of the United States national basketball team, winning gold medals in
both the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2014 FIBA World Cup.