WATCH: James Harden maintains urgency as title hunt continues

MANILA, Philippines – Seven seasons into his Houston Rockets career, James Harden is still searching for that elusive championship.

Not even a historic 36 points per game season was enough to lift the 2018 Most Valuable Player past the now-fallen Golden State Warriors dynasty in the wild Western Conference.

However, with the Warriors now vulnerable and the Rockets core left largely intact, Harden shared that his drive for the title has never been higher.

“I think the sense of urgency is always there. That’s every single year, your goal is just to hold that title up and win the championship,” he told reporters in a special interview at Adidas Parkade in Taguig City on Wednesday, June 26..

“I’m sure Chris [Paul] has had those same goals since he’s been in the league and myself as well, and I think that’s every NBA player’s goal,”  said Harden.

“For me, it’s just continuing to work hard, continuing to try to put myself in the best position, coming in at the best shape and continuing to work on my skillset.”

Playing alongside a relatively healthy CP3 in last season’s playoffs, Harden led the Rockets to the Western Conference semifinals before bowing out to the Warriors for the second year in a row.

With yet another off-season ongoing to regroup and reload, Harden said he’ll just continue to do what he does best as the title hunt continues.

“Continue to be a sponge. Listen to coaches, teammates, front office, anyone who can give me some advice to help my game and go to another level,” he said. “I’ll just continue to work and follow those rules and I can set myself up to be holding that championship.”

Amid his busy schedule, however, Harden found time to travel around Asia for his “Free to Harden” tour with Adidas. He is set to fly out of the Philippines on Thursday, June 27. – Rappler.com