James Harden Lawsuit: Moses Malone Jr. Claims Rockets’ Star Paid Men To Beat Him Up

Houston Rockets star James Harden stands accused of allegedly paying four men about $20,000 to attack and rob Moses Malone Jr. over a Facebook post.

The son of NBA legend Moses Malone claims that he was assaulted by a bouncer and three others outside a Houston strip club in the early morning hours of June 25, 2016, being ripped off for approximately $50,000 in jewelry and other personal items in the process.

The four suspects who were allegedly armed face charges of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, which are pending.

Malone added James Harden as a defendant in a civil lawsuit that he filed last September against now-shuttered nightclub V Live Houston, seeking $1 million in money damages for various injuries and property losses.

The bouncer and his three accomplices allegedly kicked and punched Malone in the face outside the club.

“The lawsuit alleges that Harden was at the club at the time of the attack. Harden was not charged or accused of wrongdoing in the case,” ESPN noted.

According to the lawsuit against James Harden, the alleged orchestrated attack against Moses Malone Jr. came in retaliation for a Facebook post in which Malone criticized Harden for charging inner city kids $250 to attend his basketball camp. Court documents suggest that one of the attackers allegedly declared at the time that Malone was being punished for disrespecting James Harden.

Malone’s attorney seems rather confident that he has a strong case against the Houston Rockets guard.

“All the stories that we’ve heard from all the witnesses were pretty consistent that James Harden was pretty upset about the Facebook post that was posted the night before the attack. There were text messages between Moses and some of James Harden’s friends… We have a good trail of evidence that leads to James Harden’s involvement to this.”

Malone’s attorney intends to serve subpoenas on witnesses to compel them to testify about the incident.

The attorney added that Mose Malone Jr.’s respect for the Houston Rockets organization caused him to hold off on naming Harden as a defendant in the civil lawsuit until the Rockets’ NBA playoff run ended, according to KTRK Houston.

The San Antonio Spurs eliminated the Rockets on May 11 in Game 6 of their matchup, with Harden taking heat for a lackluster performance.

Harden, who was considered a candidate for NBA MVP most of the season, pulled what many consider a disappearing act against the Spurs, scoring just 10 points on 2-for-11 shooting and committing six turnovers in the blowout loss.

In response to Moses Malone Jr.’s accusations, James Harden’s lawyer countered that “I am totally comfortable that the allegations are untrue,” Fox26 Houston reported, while seeming to suggest that the case against his client was a money grab.

“I would not risk my dad’s legacy or risk my name over an allegation that I don’t stand by and know is true,” Moses Malone Jr., who says he doesn’t need the money, insisted about his legal complaint against James Harden.

The late Moses Malone entered the American Basketball Association (which later merged with the NBA) directly from a Virginia high school. He went on to play for seven NBA teams, including six seasons with the Houston Rockets, and win a world championship with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983. The “Chairman of the Boards,” who passed away in September of 2015, was a 12-time NBA All-Star as a center, a three-time MVP, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.

Do you think that it’s plausible that James Harden put out a hit, as the lawsuit apparently describes it, on Moses Malone Jr. over a Facebook beef?

[Featured Image by Eric Gay/AP Images]