Screenshot: James Harden live commercial on August 15, 2023

The beard now feared! Visiting NBA superstar James Harden got a taste of Chinese speed with his jaw on the floor, as he sold out 10,000 bottles from his J-HARDEN brand wine within seconds during a live commerce on Tuesday night.

Harden showed up in the Chinese online celebrity CrazyXiaoyangge's livestreaming channel on Tuesday night with his personal brand J-Harden wine. Within seconds, Harden was told that 5,000 orders (436 yuan or $60 for two bottles) had been placed, meaning his 10,000 bottles were sold out at lightning speed. More than 15 million people watched the Harden live stream on Tuesday night.

Finding the China speed unbelievable, Harden shouted with excitement "no way!" Harden had to go to the computer to confirm the sales record.

Harden then added another 3,000 orders and again they were sold out within seconds. 

Feeling so pumped, the NBA super star even performed a side cartwheel.

Chinese basketball fans showed much support to Harden during the livestreaming, leaving "MVP" comments all over the live stream . 

Harden, in return, learned to say "woaini" - "I love you" in Chinese, to his fans during the livestreaming. And discussion on James Harden being amazed by China speed during the live commercial became  trending topic on China's twitter-like Sina Weibo on Wednesday morning. 

Diehard Harden fans even suggested that if the NBA star is not happy in the American basketball league, he is welcomed to joint Team China and become an influencer on the Chinese internet.

Harden, although completing a season that failed to meet expectations with Philadelphia 76ers, received broad support from Chinese fans during China summer tour, especially after he lashed out at the team's president Daryl Morey as "a liar" during a commercial event in Beijing on Monday.

"Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he's a part of," "Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he's a part of," he said.

In October 2019, Morey then the GM for the Houston Rockets posted on Twitter a slogan used by Hong Kong rioters at the time. 

He quickly drew the ire of the Chinese people and the team's Chinese fans and also triggered a backlash from business partners, including a more-than-one-year long suspension of NBA games on China Central Television (CCTV).

Global Times