Even though there are plenty of former and current French NBA players it seems Paris cops don’t watch a ton of basketball. Otherwise, they would have recognized a very famous beard that dribbles and shoots threes all over NBA courts. NBA star James Harden was stopped and patted down by French police in Paris this afternoon.
A part of the incident was caught on video by onlookers. They potentially did recognize the Nets’ star. It can be seen from the video that James was certainly getting agitated as the situation progressed!
Why Were They Stopped In The First Place?
Being famous is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. However, just walking down the street shouldn’t be a reason to end up in jail. From what can be seen from the photos and footage Harden and his companions were literally walking down the street when they were stopped by Police. There is no vehicle other than a police motorcycle in sight. Therefore Harden would’ve had to be on foot. Reports indicate that the cops found a vaping device with marijuana on Lil Baby.
La star de NBA James Harden contrôlé par la police Avenue Montaigne à Paris pic.twitter.com/dEatLugBzU
— Antoine Llorca (@antoinellorca) July 8, 2021
The Investigation Is On Going
As we mentioned in the footage you can clearly see that James is starting to heat up! Not necessarily in a positive way like he does on the court. He tells the officers “It’s ok, I don’t understand”. Run-ins with the law can be stressful on their own. Add to that a French-speaking officer who’s stopped you for god knows what, and we are pretty sure that this is not a part of his French trip that Harden will look back on fondly.
A source from Harden’s team the Brooklyn Nets confirmed that nothing came of the incident. However, other reports indicate that someone in Harden’s entourage, potentially Lil Baby, was arrested.
Harden’s French Trip
Not all of the stops on Harden’s French trip have had negative outcomes for sure. Harden was in Paris for fashion week and potentially to promote Lil Baby’s new album. In which the Nets’ star serves as executive producer. Even though the cops in the country were not quite sure who the men were we can’t say the same about photographers.
Just yesterday Harden and his entourage were swarmed by a crowd of photographers as they were again walking down the street. Harden stopped like a dear in headlights and almost reluctantly soaked in all of the attention.
https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1412961957095874564
No Basketball Until Next Season For James
James Harden initially had plans to represent the United States on the Dream Team for this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. However, he suffered a hamstring injury that would potentially sideline him for most of the tournament. In light of this Harden decided to withdraw from the team and instead take some time off across the pond.
All of this site seeing and walking all over the place may not be the best thing for his hamstring either. Yet, it’s always a good idea to step away and blow off some steam!
