Fans hail ‘MVP’ James Harden in Manila

James Harden interacts with fans in his fourth Manila visit. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—The NBA MVP trophy changed hands from James Harden to Giannis Antetokounmpo two days ago.

Still, it didn’t stop his Filipino fans from serenading him with MVP chants Wednesday night.

Harden capped off his “Free to Harden Manila” promotional tour with sports apparel giant adidas by being with his beloved fans at SMX Convention Center in Pasay where he also held a press conference earlier in the night.

GALLERY: James Harden entertains Filipino fans in 4th Manila visit

The Houston Rockets’ scoring demon did not play unlike other NBA stars who have come to visit, but he did show Filipinos some of his dazzling moves when he participated in a game of horse with athletes Kobe Paras, Troy Rike, Roosevelt Adams and Jason Credo.

Filipino showed Harden love and the feeling was mutual.

Harden, who arrived in Manila Tuesday and is set to leave Thursday, is in the country for the fourth time and it won’t be the last.

READ: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant part of James Harden’s NBA Mount Rushmore

“Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. I will continue to show love to Manila and my Filipino fans,” Harden said, drawing loud cheers from the crowd.

The 29-year-old Harden also shared some words of wisdom that he hopes aspiring basketball players will take to heart.

Harden, the 2018 NBA MVP and reigning back-to-back Scoring Champion, is one of the top basketball players today for a reason and it’s not due to any coincidence.

READ: James Harden spends day 1 of Manila visit with PH wheelchair basketball team

“Every single day you have to work your butt off. Every day. It doesn’t stop. You’re gonna have a lot of bad days and a lot of good days but you can’t have two weeks of working and feel like you’ve accomplished something. It has to be nonstop,” he said.

“That’s not even just in basketball but in life. If you wanna make it to the top you gotta continue to work every single day and just block all the negative things, you block the haters away from you keep them away from you and just focus on your goals.”