At the beginning of the week, James Harden was in the news for hanging out with rappers like Kanye West and Lil Baby checking out Fashion Week. By the end of the week, the storylines changed.
Harden was detained by French police in Paris on Thursday, but was released and not arrested according to numerous reports including ESPN and the French newspaper, Le Parisien.
The incident surrounded a car being pulled over by the French police because of a cannabis smell. Rapper Lil Baby, whose real name is Dominique Jones was reportedly among those in the car. According to police, Harden was not in the car, but was just near the scene talking with friends as the arrests took place.
When James tried to intervene, he was detained and frisked, but let go. Lil Baby was fined and released on Friday on suspicion of transport of illicit drugs. According to Yahoo! Sports, he is returning to the United States. One other person was also detained, but the identity or current status has not been released. Video of the incident quickly surfaced online with Harden saying “I don’t understand.”
Bravo à la police française 🤦🏾♂️ des incompétents… même pas capable de reconnaître James HARDEN pic.twitter.com/YLAeBFdaXk
— cateregardeap (@TiSoldier971) July 8, 2021
According to reports, 20 grams of cannabis was found in the car which is illegal in France.
Harden was originally supposed to be a member of Team USA for the upcoming Olympics before dropping out after reaggravating his hamstring in Brooklyn’s loss in the second round to the Milwaukee Bucks in seven games.
