Thursday’s media session with James Harden from the NBA “bubble” in Florida was his first true availability in more than four months.
The last time the Rockets star had spoken to reporters in an open format was after Houston’s home win over Minnesota on March 10. That was the day prior to the 2019-20 season’s suspension due to COVID-19.
In the more than four months since, the world has changed in many ways. Between continued developments with the pandemic and the growing racial justice movement following the death of George Floyd, many have wondered whether it makes sense for the NBA to resume, given the unprecedented set of converging circumstances.
On Thursday, after his first practice since rejoining his teammates, Harden said he believed the NBA’s resumption could play a positive role in 2020 by giving people around the world something to look forward to.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” Harden said of the last few months. “Like, it’s been so many things. I think every single day, it was something new. It was something different that hit the world, or hit social media.”
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From there, Harden explained how the NBA might help matters:
For us, it’s bigger than basketball. But I feel like now, it’s a great opportunity to give the world something positive to look forward to. With the racial issues going on and COVID and everything, it was just a lot of craziness in these last four months.
So hopefully, with the NBA being back, it can give some positive energy, give the world something to look forward to as far as watching us play, and hopefully we can just keep moving forward.
Now 30 years old, Harden is an eight-time NBA All-Star and the league’s 2017-18 MVP. For a third consecutive year, the 6-foot-5 guard is leading the entire NBA in scoring this season at 34.4 points per game, and he’s also averaging 7.4 assists and 6.4 rebounds each time out.
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Harden’s Rockets (40-24) will enter the restart tied for the No. 5 spot in the West, with their first regular-season game set for July 31 versus Southwest Division rival Dallas. “The Beard” is clearly at home on the court, and he hopes the fun extends to those watching the games, too.
“The world knows that no matter what is going on, James Harden loves to hoop,” Harden said on Thursday. “He’s a competitor.”
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