In lawsuit, Moses Malone Jr. says James Harden paid a group of people to rob him

James Harden is being sued by Moses Malone Jr., who says the Houston Rockets star paid $20,000 to have him robbed at a Houston strip club last year.

Malone filed an amendment to a civil lawsuit Monday, seeking damages from Harden after claiming he orchestrated the robbery as an act of revenge after Malone slammed Harden on Facebook for charging nearly $250 for a youth basketball camp.

“All the stories that we’ve heard from all the witnesses were pretty consistent that James Harden was pretty upset about the Facebook post that was posted the night before the attack,” Malone’s attorney, George Farah, told ESPN on Tuesday morning. “There were text messages between Moses and some of James Harden’s friends. ... We have a good trail of evidence that leads to James Harden’s involvement to this.”

Farah said Malone, the son of an NBA legend, and Harden frequently visited the now-closed V Live strip club, where a man named Darian Blount worked as a bouncer.

According to court documents filed in July, Blount and several others approached Malone as he arrived at the club on the night of June 25. One of the men is said to have flashed a gun. The documents state that Blount said at the time that Malone had “disrespected James Harden and that he needs to be punished after that.”

Malone told police he was beaten and robbed of $50,000 in jewelry as well as his cellphone, credit card and car keys during the incident, although the latter two items were returned to him at the scene.

Blount and three other men — Kavon Boutte, Oscar Wattell and Deavon Lewis — were charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon in July.

Harden’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, said in a statement to Fox 26 Houston on Monday: “I am totally comfortable that the allegations [against Harden] are untrue. 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.”

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