PHILADELPHIA — James Harden leaned in toward John Hao, a paralyzed Michigan State shooting survivor who developed a long-distance FaceTime bond with the Philadelphia 76ers star, and gave his new friend a hug. «You look good,» Harden told Hao.
The 20-year-old Hao and his parents smiled as the Sixers star guard resumed his pregame routine Sunday ahead of Game 4. The family had been invited by Harden to attend a 76ers game once Hao was available to travel.
Hao, an international student from China, recently left a Chicago rehabilitation facility where he'd been since a February shooting on the East Lansing campus that killed three students and injured five others.
Hao wore Harden's No. 1 Sixers jersey and attended the game with his parents. Hao's father also wore a Harden jersey and posed for pictures as the 76ers warmed up behind him before they played Boston.