#BEARDINGZN

[rednationbr]

Nothing can stop fate.

“Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? 

Provin nature's laws wrong it learned how to walk without having feet Funny it seems but, by keepin its dreams It, learned to breathe fresh air Long live the rose that grew from concrete When no one else even cared”

- Tupac Shakur

James Harden is the rose that grew from the concrete.

Only one person ever thought James Edward Harden Jr. could make this far: James himself.

The life history of a boy from inner city of Los Angeles turned into a fairy tale of the real life. Accordingly to statistics, James shouldn’t be here. But he prove every single one of them wrong since his first second of life. Just being born, James literally went against the odds. His mother, Monja Willis, at that point mother of two child, had a series of miscarries. But James refused to lose. And on August 26th 1989, he was born. For his achievment, Monja gave him a nickname, “lucky”. It was the first victory of his life.

As a child, little James was asthmatic, slow and hasn’t the best body shape for any sport. Who cares the odds? He was born ready. James made into the varsity basketball team in High School but his first season wasn’t nothing special. Then came his obsession for sucess. James’ mom keep it till this day, the little note her then-young boy let her asking money for basketball practice. At the end of the letter, a important P.S.: “Keep this paper. I’mma be a star”. “I felt like I was gonna be a star. Didn’t know when, but one day it would happen”, tells Harden.

And it happened. He’s a star. James Harden took off, led his school to back-to-back state championships, went to NCAA, won individual awards, led ASU to the NCAA Tournament. He then went 3rd overall in the NBA draft, selected by the Thunder. In Oklahoma City, went to the NBA Finals, was names Sixth Man of the Year and started to gain some attention. But he was just getting started.

It was in Houston, though, that James Harden turned himself into a completely different player and man. In Texas he matured - on and off the court - went from 6th man to a Franchise Player. Then to a leader. Until the very top.

In the 2017-18 season, James Harden was simply the best basketball player on the planet. He proved his fate was undeniable. “It's just God-given, you know? I can't sit here and tell you, 'I worked on that.'”, says James, about his ability to deaccelarate on every play. But it was his obsession for greatness who put him a step over. Over everybody else. Nobody was able to surpass James Harden this season. Not even to come close.

James Harden averaged 30.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.7 block on the season. He shot 61.9% on True Shooting, 44.9% from the field, 36.7% from 3-point land and 85.8% from the free throw line. He led the NBA in 11 categories, including: Points, 3PR, FT, PER, Win Shares, WS/48 and Box Plus/Minus.

James Harden is a phenomenom. Unbreakable, he ignored all the injustice and scrutinization he suffered on his way to the top. “He doesn’t play defense”, “He’s a ball hog”, “He’s not a leader”, “He’s not a winner”, “He needs too much help”. James Harden isn’t just the most valuable. He’s also the most hated. And by the brilliant ironies of life, he’s hated for the same reason he’s loved.

James Harden still isn’t the fastest, the most athletic, the greatest role model. James’ brilliance resides on the fact he seems so normal like you and me. He doesn’t seem super strong, he doesn’t seem super fast, he doesn’t jump off the court and he doesn’t do everything right all the time. Yet, today, he’s undisputed the best basketball player on the planet.

It’s like faith. If you look at James Harden and you have faith on him, you have faith on yourself. If this guy was able to beat all odds with talent and hard work, why you couldn’t you? That’s why James inspire so much on so many people. That’s why so much people follow and have fun with the Beard. Harden’s charisma is all about not trying to be what he can’t be - perfect. He may do right, he may do wrong. But he try until the last drip of sweat left on his body. And he has fun.

Actually, he has a blast of fun! Laugh and dance on the court isn't allowed, right? Not for James. “(I am) blessed to do what I love everyday”, states him on a Instagram post. Harden loves every second of the process and doesn’t give up on showing his happiness. For his fans, it’s inspiring. For his haters, it’s infuriating.

Could you imagine how pissing should be seeing a guy who seems slow, out of shape and non-athletic drop 30 points on your favorite team every single game? And laugh and dance on top of it? You're pissed off and scream at your team to toughen him up. And there he goes to drive you crazy once again. He already has 10 free throws on the game. Again. "Double him!", you scream. And there it goes 10, 15 assists for the bearded genius. You give up. Swallow up the anger and go to twitter to tell everyone why your favorite player is better than James Harden. Deep down, you know he isn't. But you're angry and want to fool yourself, so you go on. Good luck with that.

Because the anger will come back next game. And the next one. And the next one. He’ll keep scoring 30, 40, 50, 60 points! And he has 10, 15, 17 assists! And he grabbed 10, 15 boards. And he’s defending like you’ve never seen. You’re desperate. You just can’t believe. The bright side of it? This ain’t nothing new to James Harden. Nobody ever believed it.

James Harden broke the Rockets franchise-record for most points in a single game, when he exploded for the first and only 60 point triple-double in NBA History, against Orlando Magic, on January 30, 2018.

The NBA Playoffs are around the corner. The asthmatic chubby kid today carries the most famous beard in sports history. He makes more than 50 millions of dollars a yer and is the scoring champion of the NBA. Once again, (almost) nobody believe. Except for him. He’s still there. After games, on the lab, on the gym, putting up shots, training, watching film.

“This is our year”, said James Harden about the Houston Rockets chances of winning it all. He was born predistined and became obssessive about chasing his fate. In his signature MVP moment of the season, when he flat out embarassed Wesley Johnson for the whole world, James Harden explained his mentality on the play. According to him, the same mentality he has on every single play: “Kill”.

James Harden is your MVP of the 2017-18 NBA season. But he doesn’t play for that. It’s time to put his name up on the discussion about the greatest players of all-time e he’s going all the way for the ring.

James Harden is ready to kill.

What about you? Will doubt him again?