After escalating tensions to a boiling point in Houston, James Harden’s increasingly desperate efforts to get traded were finally rewarded Wednesday with the Rockets shipping their disgruntled star to Brooklyn in a four-team blockbuster involving seven players and nine future draft picks including eight of the first-round variety.
Twitter trolls were quick to make jokes at Harden’s expense, imagining Brooklyn strip clubs rolling out the red carpet to secure his patronage while also guessing how much weight the portly guard might put on in his new city (friendly reminder that Peter Luger is only a 20-minute Uber from Barclays Center). What isn’t a joke is how much Harden will be paying in taxes now that he’s a New Yorker.
Michael Mann and Robert Raiola of Sportico crunched the numbers and found that Brooklyn’s bearded All-Star will be subject to a whopping $16.89 million in New York taxes over the next three years, far more than the $3.26 million he would have paid in Houston over that same timeframe. Not that Harden is strapped for cash—remember, this is the same guy who has his jersey retired in a strip club for spending over a million dollars in one night—but moving from Texas, where there are no state income taxes, to the Big Apple will come at a steep price … literally.
On top of his estimated $13.6 million net loss in taxes, Harden will also have to find a new home, which figures to be a pricy endeavor. Per Nerd Wallet, real estate costs in Brooklyn are, on average, 92 percent higher than in Houston. Harden, a man of expensive tastes, may prefer to shack up in Manhattan (who wouldn’t want to live in a posh high-rise overlooking scenic Central Park?). If that’s the case, Harden better be prepared to pay an arm and a leg. According to Nerd Wallet’s calculations, Manhattan prices are 165 percent higher than similar housing in Houston.
Harden’s accountant must be having a panic attack right now, but don’t forget all the marketing and endorsement opportunities that await the 31-year-old in New York, which could offset some of his losses from taxes and his presumably extravagant living arrangements. New York won’t be cheap by any stretch (as someone who once rented an apartment on the Upper East Side, I can attest to this), but with over $224 million in career earnings to fall back on, Harden probably isn’t sweating it.
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