James Harden left Houston this season after eight leading the Rockets franchise, and while it ended in a way few hoped with a disgruntled Harden pushing his way to Brooklyn, he still has a tremendous amount of love for the city and its people.
This past week, Houston was among the Texas cities hit the hardest by the worst winter storm in recent memory in Texas, as millions were left without electricity for days on end. Water services halted in some areas and boil advisories were widespread across the state, and as electricity has returned, there is a massive problem of pipes bursting and damage being done to homes all over. Harden, who has a restaurant set to open in Houston, had 3,000 meals prepared and given out by his restaurant over the weekend, but is working to do more.
After the Nets win over the Clippers on Sunday night, Harden was asked about his relief efforts and detailed the calls he’s been on with the Houston mayor, plumbing companies, BodyArmor to provide water shipments to the city, and more.
James Harden says he’s working with @SylvesterTurner on recovery efforts:
“I’m on phone calls literally every day, all day. Trying to impact the city, because they’ve shown me so much love and respect in the time that I was there. I call Houston home.”https://t.co/6XQaOP2VyM pic.twitter.com/EhH1PZfLxg
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) February 22, 2021
As Harden notes, he feels a responsibility to give back to the people of Houston who showed him so much “love and respect” even as he’s moved on to Brooklyn, and it’s great to see him stepping up in this way. There are millions that have been impacted and, as he noted, what makes recovering from this storm different from even the disastrous Hurricane Harvey is that it’s not known who all has been impacted and the issues are so widespread. Kudos to Harden for putting in this effort and trying to help the people of Houston recover from a horrific week.