Oklahoma City Thunder – No. 13 | |
Shooting guard | |
Born | August 26, 1989 Los Angeles, California |
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Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
Listed weight | 218 lb (99 kg) |
Salary | $4,004,160.00 |
High school | Artesia High School, Lakewood, California |
College | Arizona State |
Draft | 3rd overall, 2009 Oklahoma City Thunder |
Pro career | 2009–present |
James Harden (born August 26, 1989 in Los Angeles, California) is a professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays shooting guard. He is from Los Angeles, California. Harden played collegiate basketball for the Arizona State Sun Devils and was selected 3rd overall by the Thunder in the 2009 NBA Draft.[1]
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High school
Harden attended Artesia High School in Lakewood, California. In his sophomore year, he averaged 13.2 points as Artesia went 28–5. He improved his stats to 18.8 points, 7.7 boards and 3.5 assists in his junior season and led Artesia to the California state title and a 33-1 record. Artesia won the state title in Harden's final year too by going 33-2. Harden had similar stats as during the previous season: 18.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists. He was named a Parade and McDonald's All-American.
He also helped his AAU team, Pump-N-Run Elite, to the 2006 Las Vegas Adidas Super 64 championship.[2] Harden had 34 points in the victory over a DC Assault team which included Michael Beasley, Nolan Smith and Austin Freeman. In the game against Houston Hoops, played on the same day, Harden had 33 points. In the final, Pump-N-Run Elite beat Kevin Love's Southern California All-Stars.
College career
Arizona State was picked to finish 9th in the Pac-10 Conference.[3] Thanks to Harden's 17.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists, the Sun Devils went 21–13 (9–9) and finished tied for 5th in the Pac-10. They were considered a bubble team for the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Left out of the NCAA tournament, they were selected to the 2008 NIT field and defeated Alabama State and Southern Illinois before falling to defending National Champion Florida.
After his freshman year, Harden was named first team all-Pac-10 and was named to the conference all-freshman team.[4] Harden was also named first team All-District by the NABC and the USBWA.
Entering his sophomore year, Harden appeared on many pre-season All-American lists and appeared on the cover of the Sports Illustrated college basketball preview issue. He was named to the Wooden Award preseason watch list.[5] On November 30, 2008, Harden scored a career-high 40 points in an 88-58 victory over UTEP.[6] On the Tempe campus, a popular t-shirt emerged for his fans. It read, "Die Harden Fan".[7]
Harden was named to the 2009 All-Pac 10 Tournament Team following Arizona State's defeat by USC at the Staples Center.[8]
Following the conference season, Harden was named the Pacific-10 Conference's Player of the Year.[9] He was also named a consensus All-American. After the conclusion of the season (a second-round NCAA tournament loss to Syracuse), Harden declared his eligibility for the NBA Draft.[10] He employed Rob Pelinka as his agent.[11]
College statistics
Season | Team | G | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG% | 3P% | FT% | MIN | TO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007-08 | Arizona State Sun Devils | 34 | 17.8 | 5.3 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 0.6 | .527 | .407 | .754 | 34.1 | 2.6 |
2008-09 | Arizona State Sun Devils | 35 | 20.1 | 5.6 | 4.2 | 1.7 | 0.3 | .489 | .356 | .756 | 35.8 | 3.4 |
Totals: | 69 | 19.0 | 5.4 | 3.7 | 1.9 | 0.4 | .506 | .376 | .755 | 35.0 | 3.0 |
NBA career
Harden was drafted 3rd overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder. This made him the first player to be drafted by the franchise as the Oklahoma City Thunder. The franchise last entered the 2008 NBA Draft as the Seattle SuperSonics.
References
- ^ Bradley, Bill. - "Leading Off". - The Sacramento Bee. - January 21, 2009.
- ^ Sorting Out A Zillion Players In Vegas
- ^ UCLA Picked To Defend Pac-10 Title in 2007-08
- ^ 2007-08 Men's Basketball All-Conference Honors Announced
- ^ John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 List
- ^ Boxscore - Arizona State vs. UTEP 11/20/08
- ^ http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=jn-asu021909&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
- ^ Pac-10 All-Tournament Team
- ^ [1]
- ^ James Harden Declares Entry to NBA Draft
- ^ "James Harden". DraftExpress LLC. http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/James-Harden-1241/. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
External links
- Arizona State athletic site bio
- ESPN college player profile
- ESPN NBA player profile
- Sports Illustrated cover
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