'I had a special guest in the building,' Harden told ESPN's Cassidy Hubbarth after the game. '... He just gave me good luck, brought me good vibes, good energy. We knew this game was for him.'
James Harden leaned in toward John Hao, a paralyzed Michigan State shooting survivor who developed a long-distance FaceTime bond with the Philadelphia 76ers star, and gave his new friend a hug.The 20-year-old Hao and his parents smiled as the Sixers star guard resumed his pregame routine Sunday ahead of Game 4 of their Eastern Conference second-round series against the Boston Celtics. The family had been invited by Harden to attend a 76ers game once Hao was able to travel.
"I had a special guest in the building," Harden told ESPN's Cassidy Hubbarth after the game. "... He just gave me good luck, brought me good vibes, good energy. We knew this game was for him."Hao, an international student from China, recently left a Chicago rehabilitation facility where he'd been since a February shooting on the East Lansing campus that killed three students and injured five others.Hao wore Harden's No.
Harden learned after the shooting that Hao was a fan of his and donated sneakers and money and then called the student to offer encouragement. "When I got injured, he read the news about that, he just came to give us all the support we need," Hao told The Associated Press. "I'm so appreciative of that.""He taught me to keep strong," Hao said.
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