9781422271995

Chapter 1

Greatest Moments The NBA Career of James Harden James Edward Harden, Jr., known as “The Beard” (in recognition of the long black beard that adorns his face), has become one of the best-scoring guards in NBA history. Since being picked third overall in the 2009 NBA draft as the first-ever draft choice of the newly formed Oklahoma City Thunder, Harden has led the league in several categories, including scoring during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons, free throws made for five consecutive seasons (2014– 2015 to 2018–2019), and free throws attempted for seven seasons (2012–2013; 2014–2015 to 2019–2020). He has risen to become one of the most feared scorers in the NBA, and after winning his first Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in 2018, the sky is the limit as to how much more we will see from him.

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