Former ASU Star Earns Lowlight Honor

Arizona State men's basketball program has delivered a mixed bag to fans over recent decades - one bright spot was none other than James Harden.

Harden starred for two seasons in Tempe under Herb Sendek - being named an All-American in 2009 in a season in which he averaged north of 20 PPG in.

Those two seasons resulted in being picked third by the Oklahoma City Thunder before being traded to the Houston Rockets.

Several fruitful seasons in Houston ended with a trade to the Brooklyn Nets in 2021 - that move has recently been described as one of the biggest mistakes in this decade by an NBA franchise by ESPN's Zach Kram.

Biggest mistake: Trading for James Harden (2021)

"Adding insult to injury, when Harden demanded a trade in 2022 and the Nets submitted by trading him to Philadelphia, the centerpiece of their return was Ben Simmons, who never recaptured the two-way value that made him an All-NBA honoree in 2020. Simmons averaged 16 points per game during his tenure as a 76er, versus just 6.5 points per game during scattered periods of availability with the Nets."

Harden has become an NBA legend despite the era that could have been in Brooklyn - the only thing alluding the former Sun Devil great is an NBA title.

As for the Arizona State hoops program - Harden has remained involved to this day. Harden saw his number 13 jersey get immortalized within the program in 2015 and has spent time with the men's/women's programs every offseason, even gifting the teams pairs of his signature shoe line.

Harden most recently made a six-figure donation to the Arizona State NIL fund - arguably playing a key role in Hurley landing highly touted talents such as Jayden Quaintance.

While those roster moves ended up not working out, it wasn't for a lack of trying - Harden will forever put effort into building up the Arizona State brand.

Read more about what Arizona State AD Graham Rossini had to say about Hurley heading into the new season here, and projecting the seasons that former Arizona State basketball stars will have in 2025-26 here.