NBA Star James Harden Fueled to Clutch Performance by Gospel Music
The NBA playoffs are currently in the second round. As usual, there has been no shortage of drama and news. One story that has emerged in the last few days is the discovery of a surprising performance-enhancing ingredient—gospel music.
After an excellent first game in the series, Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden fell out of sync and struggled mightily for the next two games, watching as his team’s 1-0 lead in the series morphed into a 2-1 deficit against the Boston Celtics. Harden racked his brain, reviewed game tape, and worked on his shooting mechanics in an attempt to get himself back on track, but his inspiration came from a more unexpected source.
In an interview after game 4, Harden shared that head Coach Doc Rivers texted him a gospel song:
“I’m on my way to the game, and I get a text from Doc. It’s a gospel song, and I’m like, ‘All right, whatever.’ So, I just tell my homies, ‘Let’s play the song.’ It’s a seven-minute song, but I let the whole song play . . . I was like, ‘All right, there’s got to be some kind of good juju in this song, or however he’s feeling, I want to feel like that.’ And I guess it worked.”
Indeed, it did. Harden scored 42 points, including a tying shot at the end of regulation and a 3-pointer at the end of overtime to elevate his team to a 116-115 win and a tied series.
The gospel song was “You Know My Name” by singer Tasha Cobbs Leonard. Take a listen to it below (although there is no guarantee that doing so will elevate your own ability to knock down 3-pointers). In the grand scheme of the NBA playoffs, it’s a small and quirky moment. But, who knows? If Harden puts on another clutch performance in game five, there may be a lot more gospel music ringing out from NBA locker rooms in the days ahead.
