"When you were little, did your mother have any nicknames for you?"

On a chilly afternoon, it takes a long time for an occasional beam of orange-red sunlight to break through the thick clouds and hit the ground. James Harden, wearing a light blue shirt, sat in a living room with cool walls and took questions from the media.

"No." Like the circumstances, Harden's answers were succinct and calm.

"She called you 'lucky.' Because between you and your last sister, she had a lot of miscarriages."

Harden's facial muscles remained the same, but his eyes gradually lost focus and he was silent for a long time.

"She never talked to me about it."

"My mom was a strong woman, and I inherited that from her."

For James Harden, the so-called strong, is after experiencing countless ups and downs in life, but also to maintain the momentum of progress.

Before today, the superstar's 29th birthday, Harden had four big ups and downs. And as it turned out, as he said, he came through strong.

Each unhappy family is different

Harden was born in Los Angeles 29 years ago today, but the city's prosperity and glamour had nothing to do with his childhood. Because Harden's home is in Compton, Southern California. In Compton in the late '80s, crime was approaching its all-time peak.

"Every day when you open your door, you see gangs fighting, drug dealers selling needles, people setting fires." Harden's mother, Willis, later described Harden's upbringing.

Harden recalled, "It's really hard to be successful in that environment because the whole environment is against you. Some have gone to prison and some have died."

Harden's father, on the other hand, belongs to "some people." The once-glorious veteran was in and out of prison for drug dealing, so much so that Harden later refused to identify himself: "He got out, but it meant nothing." I was raised by my mother."

So far, Harden's childhood has been no different from that of other inspirational stars. Even James, Allen Iverson and other stars of the childhood more miserable than his. But the asthma Harden suffered as a child made his basketball journey more difficult.

In his first year of high school, Harden was also physically weak because of asthma, so that he could only serve as a pitcher in the game, and shot very slowly.

But the strength of Harden's bones, let him refuse to be with the decadence of the street, and let him refuse to be mediocre at this time. Harden often practices late into the night. There are two famous stories about his hard work. One is a note he left for his mother: Can you wake me up at 7? Leave me some money. PS: Keep this piece of paper and I'll be a star someday.

Second, in order not to let the girl who came to show his love affect his practice, he directly hit the ball on the girl's face...

Since his sophomore year in high school, Harden has developed breakthrough skills, gradually diversified offensive methods, and become the leader of the team. His senior year and senior year, he led his team to a 66-3 record and two state championships.

Then there was the Arizona State basketball scholarship, the All-American first team, until the 2009 flower show...

Two, reality to a dull blow

After overcoming difficulties caused by family circumstances and asthma, Harden's basketball road is going well. But after forcing Curry, Rubio, derozan and other talents to be elected, reality gave Harden a dull blow.

"I thought I was going to be in the starting lineup because I was a scout, but they made me come off the bench."

The 2009-2010 season of the Thunder, although not yet grown into a Western Conference team, has plenty of talent. With Westbrook and Durant two super attackers in the starting lineup, it was difficult to make room for Harden.

In the future, people will look at Harden's rookie season as a happy annoyance for the Thunder, but Harden himself was uncomfortable for a while. Moreover, many people only remember that Harden was selected to the All-Rookie second team that year, but forget the struggles and hardships he went through.