In an attempt to diversify his off season workout, James Harden included boxing in this year's training plan and hopes it pays off with less lower body wear and tear.
In boxing, your "beard" is another word for your chin. Which, for the uninitiated, is fight vernacular for how well you can take a punch and still respond. It is the great equalizer in the sport (Rocky Marciano and Jake LaMotta made entire Hall-of-Fame careers on the thickness of their "beards"). And it's often what allows boxers to turn fights around and overcome adversity in other areas of their game while in the ring.