James Harden was born August 26, 1989.
After being the Pac-10 player of the year as a sophomore at Arizona State, Harden went to the Oklahoma City Thunder as the third overall pick in 2009 NBA draft. Blake Griffin and Hasheem Thabeet were the top two selections.
Harden played three seasons with the Thunder. He was voted NBA's Sixth Man of the Year in 2011-12. He also helped the Thunder reach the NBA Finals that season before losing in five games to the Heat.
After a contract impasse, the Thunder traded Harden to Houston just before the 2012-13 season. Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks and a second-round pick went to Oklahoma City. Harden, Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward went to Houston.
Harden has been an All-Star in each of his three seasons with the Rockets, with scoring averages of 25.9, 25.4 and 27.4. In 2014-15, Harden was runner-up to Stephen Curry in the MVP voting.
Harden has also credited his development to experiences with USA Basketball, which includes a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics:
