The combination of sweltering Phoenix …

The combination of sweltering Phoenix heat and fatigue should have been making James Harden throw up that early May afternoon. He certainly shouldn’t have been the one wide-eyed, laughing and full of energy — wanting to crank up the pressure, amused at his friend Christian Polk bent over nearby vomiting. After all, it was Polk’s idea to head over to Tempe Butte — or “A” Mountain, as it’s referred to by Arizona State University residents. Polk, a close friend and former teammate of Harden at ASU and the current head of Eduprize basketball, had insisted they take a trip to the mountains even though Harden had just finished working out earlier.