James Harden Injury: Updates on Rockets Star's Knee and Return

Houston Rockets superstar James Harden suffered a bruised right knee injury in an Oct. 11 preseason matchup against the Orlando Magic and did not return to the game. He has yet to play since suffering the injury.

Continue for updates.

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Latest on Harden's Playing Status

Wednesday, Oct. 14

While Harden's knee bruise "isn't serious," according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports, he won't be making the trip to play the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.

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Harden, McHale Comment on Injury

Monday, Oct. 12

Harden isn't worried about the knee bruise and said "I feel real good," after going through the usual after practice shooting drills, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. 

Rockets coach Kevin McHale said he had no information regarding the severity of Harden's injury on Sunday, adding he didn't see the play that resulted in the injury, per Feigen. 

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Harden Clear Centerpiece to Talented Rockets Squad

The 26-year-old is coming off the best season of his NBA career. His 27.4 points per game ranked second in the NBA, and his seven assists per night ranked first among qualified shooting guards, per ESPN.com.

Despite his strong year, Harden finished as the runner-up to Stephen Curry in MVP voting, which rankled him heading into the 2015-16 season, per NBA.com's Fran Blinebury:

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I know I was the MVP. That's 100 percent given all the things that happened last season. ... There's so many factors. I led the league in total points scored, minutes played. Like I said, I'm not taking anything away from Steph, but I felt I deserved the Most Valuable Player. That stays with me.

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Harden is undoubtedly one of the best players in the league, and you can't downplay his importance to the Rockets. Take him off the team, and Houston might struggle to qualify for the eighth seed in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.

The addition of Ty Lawson will help the Rockets cope if Harden misses any game action, since Lawson will have no problem being the primary ball-handler. He can also serve as the supplemental scorer the team didn't have last year.