James Harden and Khloé Kardashian may have been doomed from the start. Though the pair met while Harden was an MVP candidate and Khloé already a staple of the blog pages, they seem to have come from radically different worlds.
Though both were born in the same town, they couldn't have been spiritually farther apart. Khloé is the well-heeled daughter of an attorney famous for his involvement with the O.J. Simpson case. Harden grew up in a mobile home just outside Compton.
But they did have an eight-month romance, kindled at a basketball themed birthday party for Kanye West held at STAPLES Center, Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins writes. Harden tells Jenkins that he and Kardashian broke up because the attendant fame was too much for him.
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“I didn’t like all the attention,” he says. “I feel like it was for no reason. I wasn’t getting anything out of it except my name out there and my face out there, and I don’t need that. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t me. I don’t need pictures of myself when I’m driving my car. Who cares? What shoes am I wearing? Who cares? Where am I eating? Who cares? It was unnecessary stuff that I think trickled down to my teammates. I had to eliminate that.”
Their relationship had a dark cloud over it, as Kardashian remained married to ex-NBA player Lamar Odom. Odom overdosed in a Nevada brothel and his still-wife rushed to his side, as would most humans.
So, things ended and Harden is enjoying a career year that sees him back in the MVP conversation. Who knows if those things are related, though the SI piece certainly places them side-by-side.
Now, Harden's relationship with Kardashian is over and she's moved on to dating Tristan Thompson, a player famous for his tenacious rebounding and effort.