James Harden: ‘I’m kinda still in rehab’

In a passionate talk with young hoopers at T.J. Ford’s basketball academy in Houston Tuesday, James Harden pushed the players to work harder, work better. At one point, Harden told them that they should be “drizzling” with sweat. At another point in the video that went viral after being posted by a fan, Harden excoriates them for stopping their workout at 6 p.m.

“If you’re just going through the motions, you’re just wasting your time,” he concluded.

In fact, Harden told them that he had just gone through “a light day” because “I’m kinda still in rehab.”

Is that worrisome? Not really. Earlier in the summer, Sean Marks, noting the severity of both Harden’s hamstring strain and Kyrie Irving’s ankle sprain, said both should be ready for training camp. There’s no indication any change in that timetable. A month ago, Harden told CBS Sports that conditioning is his top priority.

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

Moreover, there’s been a lot of stills and videos of The Beard working out, primarily at Ford’s academy. Also, Harden who looked heavy when he joined Brooklyn back in January, has looked svelte in recent weeks, as he did in this video,