NBA star James Harden joins Saks board of directors

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Brooklyn Nets hoopster James Harden has joined the board of the Saks luxury fashion site, even as he becomes one of its financial backers, the company said on Monday.

The NBA superstar approached Saks Fifth Avenue chairman Richard Baker about investing in Saks after it was announced in March that the luxury retailer was splitting the stores from the online business, Baker told The Post.

“I told him we didn’t need any investors,” Baker said. But the two men began a series of conversations, and “I was impressed with his love of fashion, so I invited him to become an investor on one condition, that he join the board,” Baker said.

Harden also is an investor in brands including Therabody, BodyArmor, Art of Sport and fragrance company Pura, where he serves as creative director. He also has a sneaker and apparel line with Adidas.

The Saks e-commerce site recently spun off from the Saks Fifth Avenue retail chain as a separately run company, though consumers can still find much of the same merchandise at Saks as at the chain’s 40 brick-and-mortar stores, which accept returns from the digital business.

“This is an exciting opportunity for me to combine two of my personal passions — a love of fashion and teaming up with brands that have the potential to lead while making an impact on the communities they serve,” said Harden, who is known off the court for his fashion sense.

Harden, who once dated Khloe Kardashian among a string of other celebrities, is one of the NBA’s most prolific scorers and is a nine-time NBA an all-star.

The separation of Saks.com, which has about $1 billion in annual sales, and is a privately held company was, in part, a response to the online sales growth the company experienced during the pandemic.

Harden joins six other Saks board members — all of whom are men so far — including Saks chief executive Marc Metrick and executive chairman Richard Baker. Two executives from investor Insight Partners — Deven Parekh and Adam Berger — and Franz-Ferdinand Buerstedde of Rhone Capital are also on the board.

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