James Harden’s time in Houston is over … well, kind of. Harden, who has wanted a move from the Houston Rockets for weeks, was traded by the franchise to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday afternoon in a monster trade that reunites him with Kevin Durant and pairs him up with fellow high-scoring guard Kyrie Irving. It’s obviously exciting for basketball fans, because that is one heck of a trio of talent on a team with legitimate championship aspirations.
Still, Harden spent years in Houston and was the face of that franchise for years, so it’s not like his ties to the city are gone forever. In fact, despite the fact that he’s no longer a member of the Rockets, Harden has business to take care of in the city, as he’s opening a restaurant in the city next week.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Harden’s restaurant, Thirteen, is slated to open in Houston on Jan. 22. It was described as “one of Houston’s most high-profile restaurant openings this year,” and according to Eater, the menu looks pretty good!
As far as the menu at Thirteen is concerned, look forward to decadent, upscale riffs on comfort food dishes like fries spiced with Old Bay and drenched in Maryland crab cream sauce, deep-fried red snapper, and a Harden-inspired dish called the Sun Devil, which involves roasted oysters topped with creamed collard greens and candied bacon.
All of this sounds tasty! It is unclear of the Rockets organization would trade this restaurant for a restaurant opened by Victor Oladipo, Dante Exum, Rodions Kurucs, three first-round picks from the Brooklyn Nets, four first-round pick swaps from the Brooklyn Nets, and a 2022 first-round pick from the Milwaukee Bucks. Anyway, Brooklyn has a game against the Cavaliers in Cleveland that day, so it appears unlikely Harden will be able to make it to the grand opening.