James Harden pays for Michigan State shooting survivor to attend Game 4
Back in February, James Harden found himself in headlines for all the right reasons. After a tragic shooting at the University of Michigan left one of Harden's fans paralyzed, he FaceTimed with 20-year-old John Hao, who was still in the hospital.
In addition to offering the fan words of comfort and encouragement, James Harden also sent Hao several pairs of shoes and helped pay for his medical bills. Now, months later, Harden brought Hao and a family member to watch the Philadelphia 76ers take on the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the playoffs.
During his pregame shootaround, Harden spotted Hao, and quickly went over to give him a hug. In a moment that collectively left fans around the league smiling.
This is awesome đź’™
Harden kept his promise and paid for Michigan State shooting survivor John Hao to attend Game 4 đź‘Ź https://t.co/rSvSrLRiZs
Looking back at how James Harden heard about John Hao and the friendship that developed
In February of 2023, a 43-year-old man killed three students, and injured five others. One of the injured was John Hao, an international student from China, whose family flew from China to be with him in the wake of the shooting.
According to James Harden, the people who work for him heard about the story, and about Hao was a big fan. Shortly after, Harden flew several of his team members out to bring Hao gifts and facetime with the former MVP. He recalled the situation to NBC Sports, saying:
"Things like that, you just sit back and think about real life and things bigger than basketball. I heard that he was a fan of mine, so I wanted to get on that ASAP and just see what I could do."
“They put me on FaceTime with him. He’s actually doing a little bit better. So the more I can just encourage and rub off this energy that I have and give him hope, I feel like that’s what I’m here for. That’s what I have this platform for. So hopefully he can recover and bounce back out of that."
In addition, Harden gave Hao his phone number so that he can reach out if he needs anything. At the time, when the two FaceTimed, Harden offered him words of encouragement, telling him to keep fighting and keep thinking positive thoughts.
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Since then, the two have reportedly built a friendship over Facetime, leading up to Sunday's big Game 4, where Hao and his family were in attendance.
As Hao told ESPN, Harden taught him to keep strong, saying:
"When I got injured, he read the news about that, he just came to give us all the support we need. I'm so appreciative of that. He taught me to keep strong."
With the Philadelphia 76ers currently ahead of the Boston Celtics as Game 4 heads into the fourth quarter, the series could be tied 2-2 very soon. The two teams will then head back to Boston for Game 5 on Tuesday.