Houston Rockets star James Harden’s offseason just got more complicated. Moses Malone Jr., son of Philadelphia 76ers Moses Malone, has filed a lawsuit claiming that Harden orchestrated an assault and robbery that left him seriously injured and robbed of thousands in a Houston strip club.
In his lawsuit, Malone Jr. insists that last year Harden paid several others $20,000 to beat Malone up and rob him in the now defunct V-Live strip club.
Malone further alleges that the attack he suffered was in retaliation for a social media post he made about Harden. Malone says that when he entered the club, four men led by club employee Darian Blount came at him. The men, “armed with a variety of handguns and assault weapons, punched and kicked Moses in the face several times. Some of Blount’s men used their weapons to strike Moses on the head knocking him to the ground.”
The lawsuit further alleges that, “Blount’s men ripped Moses’ diamond earrings off his ears and stole several pieces of Moses’ jewelry.”
Malone also claims in his suit that, “It has come to light that James Harden paid Blount approximately $20,000 to put a hit on Moses.”
The news was first reported by Isiah Carey of Fox 26, who broke the news via his Instagram feed.
Harden’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, replied to the lawsuit by noting that Harden was fully aware that Moses has been making these allegations previous to the lawsuit.
“I am in Boston for depositions so I haven’t seen the petition, but I have previously discussed Moses’ allegations with James and others, and I am totally comfortable that the allegations are untrue,” Carey said. “Unfortunately, I am afraid this is just another example of people shopping for a deep pocket when they find that the people actually responsible have no money.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.