If James Harden is bitter about losing the Most Valuable Player award, he will never let it show.
The Houston Rockets shooting guard lost the award to Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, who earned 100 first-place votes and 1,198 total points.
"That's tough, but we're in the second round of the playoffs and I got better things to worry about," said Harden. "That's the Clippers, a very good team that's coming in. It didn't work out, but there’s more of the season to continue to play."
Harden finish second in MVP voting, earning 25 first-place votes and 936 points overall, but was mistakenly left off one ballot.
James Harden: "I've had a chip on my shoulder all year. That's how I approach every game. It's no different now." pic.twitter.com/8C7wcqAS4v
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) May 4, 2015
"All of us are pretty upset he didn't win," said teammate Dwight Howard. "But our goal is to win the championship."
Harden also will not let himself dwell in what could have been with an NBA title on the horizon.
"(The championship) is what it's all about," explained Harden. "Obviously, an individual award, the MVP is something amazing, but we have a great opportunity in this locker room. I'm not going to let that, one little, individual award affect what we have going on in this locker room.
"We still have a great season to play and some great games ahead of us."
The Rockets are set to face the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference semifinals starting Monday night.
