James Harden stops by Arizona State’s practice to play pick-up

James Harden is coming off signing the richest extension in NBA history, but that doesn’t mean he has forgotten his roots.

The Houston Rockets guard stopped by Arizona State University Thursday to play a little pick-up basketball with this year’s team at practice.

Harden, who is regarded as one of the greatest Sun Devil basketball players the school has ever seen, played two years in Tempe.

Wearing maroon and gold for 69 games from 2007-09, he found himself on the school’s all-time record books, finishing third in scoring average (19.0 points per game), third in 30+ point games (five), and 10th in steals (132).

Harden was named First-Team All-Pac-10 both years, and even earned First-Team All-American his last year in 2008-09.

Since leaving Tempe for the NBA, Harden has played eight years for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets. He was an All-Star the last five seasons, and was second in the Most Valuable Player Award voting this past year.

He signed an extension on July 9 that will keep him in Houston through 2022-23, paying $228 million.

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