NBA fines James Harden $50,000 for violating safety protocols

The NBA has hit James Harden with a hefty fine for violating league protocols.

The Houston Rockets‘ season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder was postponed Wednesday night due to a lack of players for the home team, but the NBA is doling out some extra punishment.

The league announced Wednesday evening that Rockets superstar James Harden would be fined $50,000 for violating NBA Health and Safety Protocols in regards to the coronavirus. A recent video circulating online showed Harden receiving Christmas gifts at a strip club, one of the league’s banned establishments for the upcoming season.

After an investigation, the NBA ruled him out for Houston’s season opener and subsequently decided to fine him $50,000.

James Harden is hit with a fine but no suspension

In all honesty, Harden is getting off easy here. The perennial MVP candidate will earn $41.3 million this season, so this is chump change for a guy who’s making a mockery of the league’s protocols to keep players safe and COVID-free.

While Harden denied on Instagram that he was at a strip club in the video that went viral, he’s still out and about in public, which puts himself, his teammates and his opponents at risk.

Harden wasn’t the one who tested positive for coronavirus and eliminated four other teammates from playing tonight through contact tracing — that was rookie KJ Martin, who tested positive for COVID-19 and received a haircut in close proximity to a group of Rockets including John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. But he’s still acting recklessly as he tries to force his way out of Houston, amidst a global pandemic that’s killed hundreds of thousands here in the United States no less.

A suspension for Harden honestly would’ve been warranted given his behavior, but hopefully he stops putting others at risk with this kind of behavior.