Sam Dekker recently shared an interesting story from his NBA days when he and James Harden were teammates with the Houston Rockets.
The story started after Matt Fontana shared an impressive statistic about James Harden.
Claim Now Although Harden has often been criticized in the media and his work ethic questioned due to his nightlife and frequent late night outings, his performances on the court have never reflected that in a negative way. In fact, the opposite has been true.
During his 17 year NBA career, Harden has played in about 90 percent of all games, meaning he has missed only around 10 percent of matchups due to injuries or other absences.
Sam Dekker added to that discussion by sharing an anecdote and a life lesson from the time when he and Harden made a bet about who would play all 82 games of the regular season.
“We had a bet on who’d play in all 82 games my second year as a pro. He got sick when we were gonna play in Phoenix and didn’t travel with the team. I texted him that I ‘won’ the bet – it was around game #79 or something. He said staying healthy was ‘nothing to joke about’… I broke my hand that night and didn’t get to play all 82…” Sam Dekker wrote.
We had a bet on who’d play in all 82 games my second year as a pro. He got sick when we were gonna play in phoenix and didn’t travel with the team.
— Sam Dekker (@dekker) March 12, 2026
I texted him that I “won” the bet – it was around game #79 or something. He said staying healthy was “nothing to joke about”…
I… https://t.co/MF7WUC0Pmo
