James Harden Talks to B/R About the NBA Lockout and His Offseason

James Harden was one of the stars to come to the Bay Area to play in Drew Gooden's Make-A-Wish charity game on Sunday night at the Cow Palace.

Harden looked like someone who was ready for the real NBA season to start as he dominated an "open gym type game," if that's at all possible.

If he was doing what he was doing out there Sunday night, trying as hard as everybody else was, and he is the sixth man on an NBA team, then the Oklahoma City Thunder are going to be serious title contenders if they aren't already.

While no stats were being recorded, it’s hard to express how well he played, but I really don't remember him missing a shot. He even helped DeMar DeRozan elevate on a monstrous dunk.

Harden was kind enough to talk Sunday night as he stated: "We are all here because of Drew Gooden, he put this whole thing together, invited all of us to play for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which is a great cause. It's great to come out for the kids."

It’s great that he and other NBA stars were able to get together for a great charity, and I have been curious on how else these guys are spending their time while their jobs are on hold, I asked him, "Since you have all this free time now, what are you doing during this extended offseason?

Harden said to me, "I don't look at it like we are in an offseason. I'm working hard to get better. I'm staying in great shape and I'm ready to play."

For a team that was one series away from reaching the NBA finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder are expected to be one of the elite teams again next season.

As their young core of players continue to mature and gain valuable playoff experience, Harden is vital to his teams’ success next season. From coming up short last season, I asked him what specific things he was focusing on to improve?

Harden responded "I'm not good enough to focus on one aspect of my game, I'm working on all aspects on my game, staying in great shape and being ready to go when this is over."

This lockout is killing everybody but we only see and hear from a few players, so it's hard to gauge how involved certain players are with this NBA lockout, or how much of a voice most have in determining what decisions are made. I asked him how involved he was with the labor negotiations?

Harden said to me "Not very. We all just want to play, not much I can do, but continue on working hard and hopefully this with all end soon, and we will have NBA basketball again."

I think we’re all reaching a breaking point here.

We all want a deal done and maybe with new developments in talks over the past couple days that a deal could be reached as soon as Monday.

Although, it feels like we've heard that many times before.

Harden, who is more than ready for the start of the NBA season, relayed to fans who feel the same way he does to "Just be patient, we all want to play as much as the fans want us too, hopefully this will all work out soon."

Yes, hopefully soon.