Houston Rockets: Top 5 moments from James Harden’s MVP campaign

2. The crossover against Wesley Johnson

On an evening in which James Harden was playing in front of countless friends and family in his hometown of Los Angeles, the local legend managed to give them a treat by displaying a special magic trick for those in attendance.

In a late February matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers, Harden took out the time to size up his defender Wesley Johnson out in isolation, before breaking out his crossover that sent the former Syracuse star flat to the floor of the Staples Center.

The Beard stared him down, taking his time to knock down an uncontested 3-pointer that brought his teammates and NBA Twitter into a complete frenzy.

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"“I was just trying to figure out what he was doing,” Harden told reporters when asked about the moment following the game. “I didn’t know. “I was looking at him, and he was looking at me…I was going to shoot it, but I was waiting to figure out what was going on. I was confused. And then I shot it.”"

To make it even better, Harden actually licked his lips while sizing up the fallen Johnson before launching his 3.

While Harden already has put together his fair share of highlight reels throughout his career, this play will likely go down in history in a unique archive of its own. The Beard gave Johnson and his teammates a chance to contest his shot, before striking them with the final combination in the triple that capped off a play that Adidas will likely use in Harden’s next advertisement this fall.