NBA superstar James Harden stopped by traffic police in Shanghai and has bike confiscated on China promotional tour
- Houston Rockets shooting guard is in Shanghai on the latest stop of his China promotional tour
- Harden and the Rockets are popular on the mainland, with large crowds following them
NBA superstar James Harden was stopped by traffic police in Shanghai on Saturday according to multiple sources who witnessed the incident. And netizens had a good laugh at his predicament.
In photos and videos that have gone viral, the Houston Rockets shooting guard is seen riding a battery-powered scooter with his friends and then being stopped by a policeman, who pulls him over for breaking local road regulations.
He was apparently travelling from Shangri-La Hotel to Cao Yang Road, a 4.4km trip at around 3pm on Saturday afternoon.
Harden, who is on the promotional tour to China for Adidas having visited Beijing and Guangzhou earlier this week, appeared surprised that he was being pulled over at an intersection. It is not known whether he was given a traffic citation or whether police in Shanghai had any idea who Harden was.
Harden was riding a rented scooter helmet-less probably to beat Shanghai’s notorious traffic.
A small crowd of onlookers curiously watched Harden on his scooter. Reports said he had his vehicle confiscated by police.
Some netizens sarcastically said the incident would give him a “good memory” of China as they made fun of his predicament. The NBA superstar could be seen in one video steering his bike against the flow of traffic.
“He should be careful on the road. Safety comes first,” said one netizen on Weibo.
“A lot of fans probably want Harden’s autograph but the police officer probably didn’t know who he was,” said another.
“Harden, a man who gets a whistle where ever he goes,” quipped Eddie is occupied.
Another user, Xu Zhimo, described the situation well in his post.
“Harden, a legend, how much of a stormy career has he gone through! Kawhi [Leonard] couldn’t stop him, [Kevin] Durant couldn’t stop him. However, the Shanghai traffic police stopped him! Stop and obey the signs! Shanghai traffic police, the world’s best, know how to stop Harden!”
Harden missed Monday night’s NBA Awards show so that he could travel to China on the Adidas promotional tour. Last Saturday, he met fans at Beijing University of Technology and the following day, he conducted a basketball clinic with fans at the Tianhe Sports Centre in Guangzhou.
NBA is the most watched sports event in China, more popular than even the English Premier League and Harden would be well known to many basketball fans on the mainland.
Harden and the Rockets have been a huge hit in China this week, wowing fans with their on court skills as they mingled with fans, who mimicked the NBA superstar with fake beards.
Last year’s NBA Most Valuable Player created a buzz earlier in the week when he appeared dressed in a Chinese opera-like costume. Harden and the Rockets have been on promotional tours to China before, most notably in 2016 and 2017. Three years ago, they played preseason promotional games in China.
At the NBA Awards show, Harden, who is also a 2012 London Games gold medallist, was a finalist for NBA MVP along with Milwaukee Buck’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Paul George. Antetokounmpo took top honours.
