Stacey
James Harden played in his first game of the preseason on Tuesday night, after making his best efforts to get out of Houston by skipping out on training camp and demanding a trade. And it seems safe to say that fans took notice of the Rockets star, but probably not in the way he had hoped.
It was certainly not his performance that turned heads. Harden scored a mere 12 points on 3-of-10 shooting with three turnovers.
However, one photo taken during pregame warmups quickly went viral, as fans couldn't help noticing that there was a bit more of Harden to love—or loathe, as the case may be. "James Harden in action tonight," wrote the Hoop Central Twitter account, along with a fire emoji.
Chalk it up to an unflattering angle—hey, it happens to the best of us! But others were not quite as impressed by the 31-year-old shooting guard's physique.
"We're overreacting to player empowerment because the James Harden 'I'll eat until you trade me' move is clearly an outlier," tweeted user @netw3rk.
"James Olive Harden," quipped former NFL player Andrew Hawkins, as a play on the popular Italian chain restaurant, where Harden may or may have been spending a lot of time during his time off.
Others compared Harden to rapper Rick Ross and former NBA star Kendrick Perkins—who also took umbrage with the comparison, as you can see below.
If James Harden still wants that trade, it looks like now he's going to have to work even harder for it. Or at least, stay away from the Big Macs for now.
