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Forward of Sport 5 of the NBA Finals, basketball legend James Harden is making headlines for causes that don’t have anything to do with sports activities.

The NBA icon — whose Cleveland Cavs had been beforehand knocked out of the playoffs by the ascendant New York Knicks — was arrested early Saturday morning in Houston after police found a handgun in his automobile throughout a visitors cease.

In response to court docket data obtained by TMZ, Harden was driving a Mercedes by downtown Houston at roughly 3:40 AM when officers stopped the automobile.

Through the encounter, police allegedly noticed a handgun sitting within the cup holder of the automobile. Harden reportedly acknowledged that the weapon belonged to him.

The 36-year-old was subsequently arrested and booked into the Harris County Jail on a misdemeanor cost associated to illegal carrying of a weapon.

He was later launched on bond and is scheduled to look in court docket on June 22.

At this level, few extra particulars have been launched relating to the incident, and Harden has not publicly commented on the arrest.

The authorized hassle comes throughout what has already been an eventful 12 months for the previous NBA MVP.

Harden spent the latter portion of the 2025-26 season with the Cavs after being acquired in a February commerce.

The veteran level guard averaged 20.5 factors and seven.7 assists in 26 video games with Cleveland and helped lead the group to the Jap Convention Finals.

One of the achieved gamers of his era, Harden has earned a number of scoring titles, 11 All-Star choices, and the 2017-18 NBA MVP award throughout a profession that has spanned greater than 17 seasons.

Now, nonetheless, consideration has shifted away from his future on the court docket and towards the authorized proceedings forward.

We can have additional updates on this creating story as new data turns into out there.