LA Clippers star guard James Harden paid homage to his alma mater on Wednesday as his team took on the Phoenix Suns in Arizona. The former Arizona State Sun Devil debuted a maroon and gold colorway of his Harden Vol. 8 shoes, representing the school’s colors.
Harden spent two seasons at Arizona State from 2007 to 2009 before getting selected No. 3 in the 2009 NBA draft by the OKC Thunder. He averaged 19.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.5 3-pointers per game on 50.6% shooting over 69 games.
Additionally, he was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American during the 2008-09 college basketball season.
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Harden’s Sun Devils-inspired Harden Vol. 8 colorway marks the latest in a series of the shoes’ colorways that he has debuted this season. According to the former MVP, his signature sneaker model will “be the best hoop shoe two years straight, no debate.”
Donning his maroon and gold Harden Vol. 8’s, Harden thrived, finishing with 22 points, five rebounds, 11 assists and four 3s on 53.8% shooting. Meanwhile, the Clippers secured a 131-122 road victory, marking their fourth straight win.
James Harden says Clippers still have room for improvement
Wednesday’s win over the Suns marked the Clippers’ 13th in their last 15 games. They continued their offensive dominance, as they shot a whopping 55.3% (42-for-76) and 52.9% from 3 (18-for-34).
However, despite experiencing immense success lately, James Harden believes that his team can reach another level. Following Wednesday’s victory, the 10-time All-Star touched on how LA’s star-heavy roster is still trying to adjust to opposing teams’ defensive schemes.
“We still haven't figured it out, because different teams guard us differently,” Harden said. “Once we've seen every defense, which probably won't be until the end of the year, we'll figure out how to attack.”
Additionally, Clippers coach Ty Lue spoke postgame about how LA needs to continue playing team-oriented basketball.
“It's just making the right pass and making the right play — that's what we've got to be good at,” Lue said.
Through 28 games with LA, Harden is averaging 17.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 8.1 apg, 1.4 spg, 1.0 bpg and 2.8 3pg on 47.0% shooting. The Clippers (21-12) have gone 18-10 with Harden in the lineup.
It remains to be seen if their veteran Big 3 of Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will be able to hold up physically. However, for now, things appear to be going about as well as most Clippers fans could have hoped following LA’s midseason acquisition of Harden.
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