James Harden will have a national platform on Thursday night, as the Houston Rockets will travel to Boston to take on the Celtics on TNT. It’s a game between two of the best teams in the league, and will draw the attention of basically everyone in the basketball watching universe.
So Harden has decided to use this stage to become the latest person from the world of sports to voice his support for Meek Mill, who was sentenced to 2-4 years in prison for a parole violation earlier this year. The two are friends, and even competed in a charity basketball game earlier this year.
When he suits up against the Celtics, Harden will do so in a special pair of adidas kicks dedicated to his friend. DeAntae Prince of Sports Illustrated got the scoop and tweeted out the sneakers, which feature “FREE MEEK” in big yellow letters and have the Maybach Music Group logo on the sides.
Prince wrote that Harden visited Meek Mill in prison on Dec. 26, and that “the purpose of the visit was to keep Meek Mill’s spirits up during the holiday season.” Harden joins several others from the basketball world to make public signs of support towards the rapper, as Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons were among a group of Sixers players who wore “Stand With Meek Mill” attire to a Jay-Z concert, while Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin wrote an unsuccessful letter to a judge in Philadelphia with the hopes of preventing such a harsh sentence.
