

HOUSTON – Houston Rockets guard James Harden was named today as starter on the Western Conference All-Star team by West All-Star head coach Steve Kerr to replace injured guard Kobe Bryant. This marks Harden’s second consecutive appearance as a starter in the game and third consecutive All-Star selection overall. James Harden will be the 35th player in franchise history to represent the Rockets as a starter in the NBA All-Star game.

The 64th NBA All-Star Game will be exclusively televised on TNT from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015. The All-Star Game will collectively reach fans in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages.

Harden (6-5, 220, Arizona State) is averaging 27.7 points, 6.8 assists, 5.7 boards and 2.0 steals in 52 games played for Houston this season. He leads the NBA in scoring (27.7), leads the NBA in free throws made (426), ranks fifth in three-point field goals (140), eighth in assists (354) and tied for second in steals (103). He set season-high with 45 points vs. Indiana (1/19/15) and reached that mark again with 45 points vs. Portland (2/8/15) and leads the league with six performances of 40 points or more and 24 performances of 30 points or more. He also leads the league with four different games of 30 or more points and 10 or more assists. Harden was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for Dec., 2014. This was the first Player of the Month honor of his career. In the month, he also won his sixth and seventh Player of the Week honors of his career (weeks ending 12/14/14 and 12/28/14). Harden finished fourth among all Western Conference players among fan voting for All-Star 2015 with 1,069,368 votes. This will be the 56th appearance by a Houston Rockets player in the NBA All-Star Game (by 16 different players).