During an appearance on 93.7's "Blessed Beatz" show in 2018, James Harden's mom, Monja Willis, revealed she didn't encourage her three kids to pursue various sports as a career. She simply wanted them to have something to keep them off the streets.
Willis explained that she was never particularly sporty herself, but saw the likes of basketball, football, and cheerleading as a welcome distraction from what was going on elsewhere in Compton. "Being from L.A., and it's probably just being from anywhere, you have to keep your kids under your wing," she added.
Willis knows all about the dark side of the California city. Per the Houston Chronicle, Harden's father, also named James, spent a considerable amount of time "in and out of prison" for various offenses, some drug-related. In 2018, the Brooklyn Nets star spoke to GQ about what it was like to grow up in such an area, describing it as "dirty" and "rough" before adding, "Just wasn't the safest place, you know? Gangs and distractions. A lot of people that weren't trying to be successful."
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