Houston Rockets superstar James Harden has been in the midst of an Adidas promotional tour in China, which caused him to miss the NBA Awards Show. His trip, however, took a bit of a sour turn after a traffic enforcer reportedly stopped him in the middle of the road for a traffic violation on Saturday afternoon, per Unus Alladin of the South China Morning Post.
According to the report, Harden was enjoying his time riding an electric-powered scooter around the city before the police pulled him over.
As seen in the photos of the incident, the 2017-18 MVP was traveling — no pun intended — without a helmet. However, there's no clear report on his official violation. He was reportedly on his way to Cao Yang Road from his hotel.
Harden appeared shocked in the photos taken during the incident. He has since apologized for his mistake, admitting that he did not set a good example for the Chinese community.
The police did confiscate Harden's bike. However, there are no official reports whether the officer penalized Harden further for the violation.
It is not known whether the officer was aware that he was reprimanding an NBA superstar. Nonetheless, it appears like James Harden got a pass on this one. Perhaps the police just let the seven-time All-Star go since he wasn't aware of China's traffic laws.
Fans on Twitter, of course, were quick to pounce on the former MVP's traffic mishap with memes and jokes.