Harden donates over $240K to renovate Houston basketball courts

James Harden is giving back to the city of Houston.

The Rockets star donated more than $240,000 this weekend to renovate basketball courts that were ruined by Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

At an event Saturday to mark the donation, Harden said he wants to become a legend off the court and hopes the renovations will convince kids in the area to get more active.

"My ultimate goal is to change Houston and make it better," Harden said, according to Ben DuBose of RocketsWire. "Obviously the hurricane affected this area greatly so this was one of the reasons why I wanted to bring some positive energy and some light on this community.

"It's baby steps but we're going to get there. In a few years, we're gonna change the city around and make it legendary."

Hurricane Harvey was a Category 4 hurricane that formed in the Atlantic Ocean in August 2017 and unleashed devastation across Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Southern United States. Within the U.S., Texas and Louisiana were hit particularly hard, with many areas of Houston's metropolitan area subjected to severe flooding.