Warriors’ Stephen Curry leaves NBA MVP talk to Rockets’ James Harden

OAKLAND - Stephen Curry indicated he had not heard James Harden’s comments about deserving the Most Valuable Player award that the Warriors guard won.

“Oh, he said that?” Curry said Wednesday.

“Guys find different ways to motivate themselves. I’m confident in what I do, and I know he’s confident in what he does. It might come out a different way. I try not to do a lot of talking, especially with things that are past. But obviously you’ve got to motivate yourself, and I’m sure he’s motivated this year to do some special things. I’m the same way. It doesn’t change what happened last year.”

Curry won the voting for the award by a landslide after leading the Warriors to a 67-win regular season. Curry received 100 of 130 first-place votes. Harden, who received 25 first-place votes, finished second.

“I know I was the MVP,” Harden told NBA.com. “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.”

VIDEO OF PLAY GOES VIRAL

Curry, whose team plays at Portland in a preseason game Thursday, had an MVP-like moment in the Warriors’ first contest.

Curry found himself wide-open for a 3-pointer against the Toronto Raptors on Monday at SAP Center and managed to slap hands with teammate Andre Iguodala before the ball went through the hoop. Even though the game wasn’t televised, video clips of the play went viral.

“The funny thing was when I shot it, I reached out to get my high-five, but nobody else was looking at me,” Curry said. They were looking at the ball, so they kind of left me hanging for a while. It was kind of a fun moment because everybody on the sidelines was going crazy. Obviously if it didn’t go in, I would look like an idiot, but it did.”

Said interim coach Luke Walton: “I guess when you can shoot the ball as well as Steph, you know when it’s going in or not before it does. When I saw that happen, I just laughed. It’s part of the reason that makes coaching these guys so fun because you see the joy they have when they play and how much they enjoy each other.”

NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR RUSH

Brandon Rush smiled and said he couldn’t remember the last time he sat in the Warriors’ interview chair.

Rush rarely got opportunities last season, appearing in only 271 minutes in 33 regular-season games. Two years after tearing his left ACL with the Warriors, the 30-year-old knows he is now fighting for a spot on the team. Hitting both his jump shots in the preseason opener was a good start.

“I definitely feel a lot better than I felt the last couple of years,” Rush said, adding he lost weight in the offseason in order to protect his knees.

“I was definitely feeling really confident out there. I’ve been feeling like that the whole training camp, making plays and making shots.”

WORTH NOTING

Iguodala returned to practice after missing the previous day’s events because of a personal family matter.