James Harden Identifies Cavaliers’ Biggest Priority Entering His 18th Season

James Harden opens his 18th NBA season Thursday in Philadelphia. After the Cleveland Cavaliers' practice Tuesday, he said staying healthy is the most important thing for Cleveland.

He is 37. He has been an All-Star 11 times and won MVP in 2018. Born in Los Angeles, he played college basketball at Arizona State.

Cleveland is his sixth franchise, after the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Los Angeles Clippers.

Things will look different by February and March, Harden said.

"Long, long, long way to go," Harden said. "So many things change and shift throughout the course of the year. So I think just us having an opportunity to start off together is already exciting. Things look different February, March, but hopefully the most important thing for us is staying healthy and just kind of taking one day at a time and just [trending] up."

His 29,339 regular-season points rank ninth in NBA history, according to theScore. Wilt Chamberlain sits eighth, 2,080 points ahead.

He moved into the top 10 on Dec. 6, 2025, passing Carmelo Anthony while still with the Clippers. He has since passed Shaquille O'Neal.

Harden has made 3,390 3-pointers, second all time. His 8,873 assists rank 12th. He has played 1,221 regular-season games, 46th all time.

Last season, split between the Clippers and the Cavaliers, he averaged 23.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 8.0 assists in 70 games. He shot 43.4% from the field. Cleveland went 19-7 in his 26 games with the team.

He passed on a $42.3 million player option for this season in June. The new deal with Cleveland, agreed to Aug. 20, runs three years and $97 million.

Over the summer, Harden had teammates out to his house in Arizona.

"I had [camps] at my house in Arizona. Guys came out, we worked out, got some good food, just hung out, just laughed, just hanging around each other," Harden explained. "And those two opportunities, the one in New York, just everything. I mean, our training camp, so I feel like we got a better understanding of each other. The chemistry is definitely built. We've had some really good days here in training camp and preseason, so I think it's time to translate."

Donovan Mitchell said before camp that the group also worked out in New York during the U.S. Open and around Harden's birthday, Aug. 26. None of them went to Summer League in Las Vegas, Mitchell said.

The Cavaliers flew to Spain Sept. 29. Training camp started Sept. 30 at The Embassy in Fuengirola, Spain, and ran through Oct. 5. Cleveland went 1-2 in the preseason.

The conference finals run in May was the fifth of Harden's career. He made two with Oklahoma City, in 2011 and 2012, and two with Houston, in 2015 and 2018.

New York swept Cleveland and closed it out 130-93 in Cleveland. Harden averaged 16 points on 37.4% shooting in the four games, according to theScore. Across 18 playoff games, his turnovers climbed to 4.7 per game, and he had five or more in 10 of them, AP reported.

The Knicks went on to win the title. Harden is still chasing his first.

Tip-off in Philadelphia is 7 p.m. ET Thursday. ESPN carries it.