James Harden admits exactly why he didn’t undergo surgery to repair his broken thumb

The Cleveland Cavaliers and James Harden suffered significant injuries on Wednesday. An X-ray on the star point guard’s right thumb revealed a non-displaced fracture Tuesday against the New York Knicks. Although the injury would normally require surgery, Harden never considered that an option.

“It’s too much time,” the Cavaliers star said after Sunday’s 106-102 win over the Brooklyn Nets. “I was thinking about playing the last game, I was thinking about playing in Milwaukee. There’s going to be some discomfort, so we just figure out ways to deal with it. I have no choice.”

James Harden on whether he’s considering surgery on his broken thumb:

“No. That’s too much time… There will be some inconvenience, so I’m just thinking of ways to cope… I have no other choice.” pic.twitter.com/PG2ke37o07

— Eric Slater (@erikslater_) March 2, 2026

Harden’s injury could have been a major blow to Cleveland’s title hopes. After a disappointing start to the season, the Cavaliers traded the injured Darius Garland for the 36-year-old Harden at the deadline. The availability of the latter was the driving force behind its acquisition.

However, after injuring his thumb, it was unclear whether Harden would be able to play in overtime to close the regular season. With Donovan Mitchell also sidelined with a groin injury, Harden missed the first two games Cleveland’s road trip, a pair of tough losses to the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons.

Cavaliers in New York on Saturday, and Harden went to the NBA Players Association gym to test his thumb.

“See if I can dribble,” Harden said of the practice goal. “If I can dribble, I can play. I still couldn’t dribble like I wanted to, but it was good enough.”

Originally listed as suspect, Harden took the floor against the Nets on Sunday.

James Harden is playing through a broken thumb for the Cavaliers

To the relief of Cavs fans, he came through the game and played well enough to secure the win. Harden logged 36 minutes, scoring 29 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, 4-of-7 from three and 8-of-12 from the free throw line with nine rebounds, eight assists and five turnovers.

“He had too many turnovers,” he said of his performance. “I’m just not able to handle the ball properly. After this game, hopefully I’ll get a few days to relax and let it heal and then go from there.”

While Harden finished with a near triple-double, Kenny Atkinson noted that he was not his usual self.

“You could see in the first half that he was obviously not 100%,” Atkinson said. “I’m just fumbling the ball. A couple of those turnovers weren’t his. Then I noticed he put the ball away a couple of times when he was picking it up. Which he never does. He just probably needed to rest. That’s tough, especially for a guy who deals with it as much as he does.”

“I thought in the second half we had that stretch where we were struggling and he kind of took over. He got to the free throw line and then hit a pair of threes. He’s a player. He was kind of tough. … We needed him. He played with a handicap. But he still played well.”

The Cavaliers they currently hold the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference standings, two games ahead of the Toronto Raptors and 1.5 games behind the New York Knicks. Their next two games feature two of their toughest tests since taking over Harden.

Cleveland will return home for a rematch with the Pistons on Tuesday. He will then have four days off for Harden to rest his thumb before back-to-back games against the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.

Harden’s thumb will remain one of the main stories surrounding the Cavaliers in the coming weeks. However, the 11-time All-Star is adamant that he will do whatever it takes to stay on the field during his age-36 season.

“I just love playing basketball, even without money,” Harden said. “Basketball is what we do, and it’s a safe place. As you get better and you start learning the game and you learn more and you get comfortable, it’s the same with anything, you just get addicted to it. I’ve been blessed to be able to play in this league as long as I have, and I’m still doing it at a high level. Even now, as I was, I felt like I was older, but I felt like I was older. basketball, so I want to appreciate them and not regret playing.”