The bearded face of franchise sporting a new, determined look

I saw a different James Harden on a day no one expected to see him. Then I discovered the Rockets’ leader we’ve all been trying to find.

The Weird Beard was gone. The official face of Les Alexander’s rebranded franchise calmly sat five feet in front of my stunned eyes. Harden sounded different. He looked deeper and his words felt stronger. Aloofness and indifference had departed. Understanding had arrived. “That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to lock in for these next four years, so I could focus on my legacy. I could focus on winning and doing unbelievable things here that hasn’t been done in a long time,” said Harden, hours after agreeing to a $118 million contract extension that could keep one of the league’s greatest offensive players living in Houston through 2020. Was Harden really saying these things? In the sun-scorched NBA summer of Kevin Durant to the 73-win Warriors and Dwight Howard intentionally flying away from H-Town, was the former sixth man who went bad Hollywood finally seeing the real light?

Toyota Center belongs to him. The Rockets will only be as good as his pro and personal names.

A worldwide brand and the baller’s life aren’t worth anything if your teammates and fans don’t believe in you. Legacy really is everything.

Harden proudly swore he got it all. And as general manager Daryl Morey quietly pulled off the Rockets’ biggest move since Superman landed in Texas three long years ago, the NBA’s leading vote-getter in the love him/hate him category pledged his allegiance to the hardwood in downtown Houston.

The Legacy of Bigs has been washed away. The Legacy of Harden is here.

“We’re going to build it and build it until we get it,” he said.

Then Harden said all the words I’ve been waiting on him to say for years. And, people, let me tell you: The Beard sounded like he meant it all.

“Last year wasn’t a great year for me. But it won’t happen again.”

“Leaders aren’t built when things are going extremely well. So I had to learn from it. I had to figure out, how can I be better individually? How can I grasp my team and bring us a lot closer? … I’ve learned so much.

“Starting with this summer and training camp, we’re going to be all in.” All in? The Rockets?! OK. Seriously. Who are you, and what have you done with the old James Harden?

“I’m just proud of him. … I see him taking charge and just growing as a man,” said Harden’s mother, Monja.

Let’s be honest, red-and-yellow believers: Last year was hell. Kevin McHale was beheaded; the barely average Rockets were too often too cool to care; Howard and Harden divorced; No. 13 probably spent a little too much time pursuing a bad-luck Kardashian.

But Saturday at Toyota Center, when maybethey-can-help Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon were supposed to be the organization’s only freeagency slide show? It became Rockets heaven the second those two dudes — promising, if they don’t break anything delicate — stepped aside. Why’s Harden strolling through those doors? Why are Mike D’Antoni, Morey and Alexander figuring out where to sit in seats they’ve sat in?

Wait, wait, wait. Is this what the Rockets’ PR staff was hinting at when it slyly said a 30-minute delayed news conference was being held up because the NBA had to approve a “contract?” And how did a team that struggled to play a lick of decent defense in 2015-16 manage to keep a major big-money deal off everyone’s Twitter timeline? Holy ___. The Rockets pulled it all off. Unlike Oklahoma City, they locked up Harden into possibly the next decade. They prevented the potential of a disastrous 2018 hostage situation, with the city freaking out every brain-numbing time “Harden,” “free agency” or “trade” hit the rumor wires. They crowned Morey’s two-year, title-contender plan with a flag that will be waved from coast to coast across the NBA country. The Rockets have a superstar. And all he’s doing is staying.

“We’re building a new core with James here for a long time,” Morey said.

Now a 26-year-old with a sweet $200 million shoe deal and a sparkling $118 million extension just has to prove it all. We were hard on Harden before. The spotlight will only burn brighter after Saturday’s mega-payday.

LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and Durant have what in common with Michael Jordan and the game’s greatest of all time? They got better each year in their primes and never accepted the 41-41, no-defense look.

D’Antoni’s controversial hire and the Rockets’ new run-free system will be graded on how great Harden — a near MVP two years ago; coldly left off three All-NBA teams last season — can be.

It’s unbearable weight for anyone who’s not a legit top-five player and a true team leader.

It’s a life — the role, look and words — Harden finally sounded like he understood on a day that suddenly belonged to him.

“There’s new life here,” said The Beard, still looking like his old self but sounding like a brandnew Rocket.