Houston Rockets superstar James Harden finished second in the NBA Most Valuable Player vote, that still doesn’t change his belief of being the best player in the league.
Harden spoke with Fran Blinebury of NBA.com on his claim to the best player in the league.
“You don’t think I can do more?” Harden asks. “Just wait. I’ll show you.
I am the best player in the league. I believe that,” he said. “I thought I was last year, too.”
Without Harden, it’s pretty conceivable to think they don’t make the playoffs, and are a lottery team. The Rockets were depleted with injuries to Dwight Howard, Terrance Jones, Patrick Beverley, and Donatas Motiejunas, still Harden was expected to do more. Even averaging 27.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 7 assists didn’t get him the MVP he desired.
Harden has felt some disrespect that he didn’t raise the MVP trophy, though his peers voted him as the MVP in the first ever NBA Player Choice Awards.
“I know I was the MVP,” Harden said. “That’s 100 percent given all the things that happened last season. Credit the Golden State Warriors for an unbelievable year. They had an unbelievable team, coaching staff, everything. But that award means most valuable to your team. We finished second in the West, which nobody thought we were going to do at the beginning of the year even when everybody was healthy. We were near the top in having the most injuries. We won our division in a division where every single team made the playoffs. There’s so many factors. I led the league in total points scored, minutes played. Like I said, I’m not taking anything away from Steph, but I felt I deserved the Most Valuable Player. That stays with me.”
“To be honest, I thought I had more in the tank when I went out onto the court that night,” he said. “But it was a long, tiring, beat-down season … Playing the most [total] minutes in the league, dealing with so many injuries every single day … It’s a wear-and-tear. It’s a grind. It was so frustrating, because in that Game 5 I turned the ball over 12 times. I pride myself on creating opportunities to score for my team. So those 12 possessions, instead of getting a shot for myself or one of my teammates, I’m giving an extremely talented Golden State offensive team extra possessions. And you just can’t do that in the playoffs. […] So that’s what my offseason has been all about — better conditioning and better preparation for this time.”
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