Cleveland Cavaliers athlete James Harden was allegedly arrested on a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully carrying a weapon.
Harden, 36, was arrested in Texas on Saturday, June 13, after local law enforcement officers discovered a handgun in his car, according to TMZ. According to the outlet, the NBA star was released within hours and a court date is scheduled for Monday, June 22.
Harden has not spoken publicly about his arrest. Us Weekly has reached out to the professional athlete’s rep for comment.
Harden, who was drafted into the NBA in 2009, currently plays for the Cavaliers. The Ohio-based basketball team was eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals in May by the New York Knicks. (The Knicks are currently facing against the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals, leading the series 3-1.)
“I think they made shots, some obviously open shots and some just tough shots,” Harden said of his team’s loss during a press conference held last month. “I don’t think we really made anyone. … I think we accomplished a lot, still short of the goal, but I think we made it to the conference finals. Now there’s another level to get to (or maybe) two levels to get to.”
He continued: “I think a lot of it is just, you know, maybe our first time together and the first two series, we had opportunities to handle the series a lot quicker than we did and we didn’t take advantage of it.”
Still, Harden certainly found Cavaliers loss to be “a little frustrating”.
Los Angeles Clippers star James Harden has been named in a sexual assault lawsuit against his nephew, Justice Armani Blackburn. In a civil complaint filed in Harris County, Texas on Monday, June 23 and obtained by Us Weekly, plaintiff Melissa Watley alleged that Blackburn raped her while she was unconscious on New Year’s Eve (…)
“I think being here for two and a half, three months (while) that team has been together for a few years, which you still don’t get brownie points for, but I think we’re in a good spot and we’ve got some work to do, but we had a good season.”
According to Harden, the Cavaliers are a “talented group” that he hopes to see excel in the upcoming NBA season.
“It’s the first time we’ve gone through whatever we had to go through and I think we’ve accomplished a lot, you know, winning a Game 7 at home, winning a Game 7 on the road and getting to the conference finals,” he added at the time. “Now we have to take another two steps from this summer, but take another two steps and get even better. Now you get a full season of understanding what we have as a group and uh set ourselves up, like positionally for the better.”
Harden previously played for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers. He joined the Cavaliers in 2025.
