MOMENT: James Harden predicts ‘Scary Hours’

It was just a moment but when Ari Alexander, a reporter for KPRC in Houston, caught up with James Harden in Houston Sunday, the Nets guard’s response got a lot of notice...

Scary hours indeed if Harden is healthy ... and in good shape. Harden has said before than his top priority is getting past the hamstring strain and the underlying conditioning issues left over from last season.

He’s been working out in Houston at T.J. Ford’s Academy and certainly looks svelte...

He was recently joined there by Kevin Durant...

In mid-August, Harden told Sports Illustrated that conditioning was his top priority.

“Conditioning is going to be my main focus. I’m still trying to basically get healthy from my hamstring injury, which I was dealing with for a few months,” Harden told Michael Shapiro. “So I want to make sure I’m completely healed and strong enough so I can go out there and completely be myself,” he added. “My rehab is going very, very well, and my getting my conditioning right is a big part of that.”

Last week was Harden’s birthday week and it included everything from an AstroWorld-themed party to a concert to a women’s empowerment brunch.

No word yet on when Harden will sign his extension. Sean Marks promised that all of the “Big Three” would be “signed, sealed and delivered” by the opening of training camp in a month. But in the same interview with SI, Harden spoke glowingly of his first season in Brooklyn.

“It was pretty good, considering all the adversity we had to deal with, whether it’s me getting traded midseason, [Kevin Durant] missing damn near three months of the season, the COVID protocols, [Kyrie Irving] missing a chunk of the season as well. And with all that said, we were a step away from the Eastern Conference finals. Now we’ll get a full year to regroup and get this thing going where we want it to.”

• James Harden warns the rest of the NBA: ‘Healthy James Harden. It’s scary.’ - Ajayi Browne - USA Today