James Harden on not taking rest days: 'It's about the leadership'

The last time James Harden sat out of a regular season NBA game for rest was April 16, 2014. It was the final game of the season and his Houston Rockets had already locked up the No. 4 seed in the West.

So when he was asked taking a rest day — a growing trend in the NBA headlined by the Cleveland Cavaliers' big three of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love not traveling to Memphis for a game in December — the MVP frontrunner made his stance clear.

"It's not about my rest ... it's about the leadership that I show to my teammates and this entire organization and my fans," Harden told reporters at Tuesday's practice. "I'm blessed. I'm 27 years old and I'm able to play basketball at a high level. It won't be here for long, so I take advantage of the opportunity while I'm here and I just have fun doing something that I love."

Harden's comments reiterate those he made to USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick a couple weeks ago.

“I live a dream, man,” Harden said. “Obviously I’m careful on what I do, but if I have an opportunity to do something special and great, and that I’ll look back on and say, ‘Yeah, remember that time ...’

“(Life) goes by fast, so I’m going to enjoy it to the best of my ability. And how I live my dream is how I live mine, and not for anybody else. I’m here. I’m here, and I’m smiling and I’m blessed.”

The Rockets have four games coming up in the next five nights — at Miami on Tuesday, vs. Milwaukee on Wednesday, vs. Golden State on Friday, and at Memphis on Saturday.

Follow AJ Neuharth-Keusch on Twitter @tweetAJNK