Stephen Curry has already won the MVP, everything he does now is icing on the cake.
Last season, the MVP race was much tighter. Stephen Curry had a breakout season, but so did James Harden and the perpetual greatness of LeBron James was on both of their tails. Now, that’s all changed.
LeBron is having a great season, as he is wont to do, but because he hasn’t done anything extraordinary (he has to at this point) there is no MVP buzz around him. Harden, on the other hand, has dropped off substantially from where he was at last season – still scoring a lot of points but doing so inefficiently most of the time.
Sure, there are some other, quiet challengers. You’ve got Kawhi Leonard tearing things up in San Antonio, leading the league in three-point shooting percentage; Paul George is having one heck of a comeback in Indiana; Russell Westbrook is performing at the height of his usual erratic style; Kevin Durant is back and starting to play like the Durantula again.
And yet, none of them are even close to touching what Curry has done with his Golden State Warriors.
Per Sekou Smith of NBA.com, an Eastern Conference executive recently said of Curry: “If he shut it down for the rest of the regular season after that Christmas game against the Cavaliers I don’t know if anybody could catch him.”
He’s right. They can’t. You can debate it all you want, but Curry would have to fall off entirely to miss snatching his second straight MVP award.
Why should he be MVP? Well, here are the initial standards he meets (credit, as always, to Bill Simmons for the criteria):
Question 1: If you replaced an MVP candidate with a decent player at his position for the entire season, what would be the hypothetical effect on his team’s record?
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They wouldn’t be 25-1, that’s for damn sure. The Warriors are a fantastic basketball team with a roster and system that works perfectly for them. Every single player on that squad has an important role that must be filled night in and night out. But it’s Curry that makes that team go go go.
Imagine if you stuck (a healthy) Mike Conley on the Dubs. They’d still be good, but it wouldn’t be the same. Curry is a transcendent player, a superstar. When Harrison Barnes went out of the rotation with an injury, the Warriors didn’t even skip a beat despite being unable to use their supernova lineup.
Curry is the head of the snake. The rest of the body is stilled scaled and tough, but he’s the one with the venom. Take him away, and the Warriors simply aren’t in conversation for one of the best teams of all-time anymore.
Question 2: In a giant pickup game with every NBA player available and two knowledgeable fans forced to pick five-man teams with their lives depending on the outcome, who would be the first player picked based on how everyone just played in the regular season?
No brainer. All you have to do is watch one game – one freaking game! – of Steph to be tempted to pick him first. He jacks up 11 triples a game and nails five of them every night. Every night! That’s insane!
Not to mention that his team plays at a breakneck pace (third fastest in the league) and yet the only time we’ve seen Curry actually exhausted in a game was at the end of a seven-game road trip in which the Dubs did not have a fully healthy Klay Thompson, were still without Barnes and had played in a double overtime contest the night prior.
Curry is the best shooter in the league and the best shooter of all-time. He’s jammed right in the middle of his prime. His easy-going, swaying game is gorgeous to watch. He’s clutch. He can heat up after one shot. And, of course, he’s stomped over every team he’s come across (and will likely get redemption against the Bucks Friday).
There’s no way Curry is not being picked first.
Question 3: If you’re explaining your MVP pick to someone who has a favorite player in the race–a player whom you didn’t pick–will he at least say something like, “Yeah, I don’t like it, but I see how you arrived at that choice”?
I don’t know too many Harden fans. Maybe we should ask Khloe Kardashian what she thinks. I kid, I kid.
This one works well for me. As someone who writes about basketball, I have to remain as objective as possible in my analysis of the game. But I’m also still a fan. I mean, who isn’t who loves a sport? And LeBron is my favorite player. Every season I root for him to win the MVP and tack on another one to the four he’s already won.
But you simply have to respect what Curry has done and is doing. Even if he’s not your favorite player. Even if you hate the Warriors (I’m looking at you, Clippers fans).
Chef Curry is lightyears ahead of everyone else right now, and I can’t imagine anyone trying to brush him off as not the clear MVP race leader.
Question 4: Ten years from now, who will be the first player from that season who pops into my head?
If things finish the way they’ve started (which is likely), Curry will probably be the only player that pops into my head. I might have to look some things up to remember the others, unless George’s Pacers beat the Cavs in the playoffs or something.
I thought that the pinnacle Curry season was going to be last year’s. It was so good. He beat out Harden in a close MVP race, then went on to ride that wave into the Finals and won the title. His team’s record was 67-15.
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He averaged 23.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 7.7 assists on 48.7 percent shooting from the field, 44.3 percent shooting from deep and 91.4 percent shooting from the foul line, with a PER of 28.0 and a true shooting percentage of 63.8.
I thought for sure that was THE Curry season. I was wrong.
It’s this season. What Curry is doing in 2015-16 is not only his best year, but one of the best regular season performances we’ve ever seen. Period.
So years down the road (it’ll be more than 10) when I have a kid and he/she asks, “Steph Curry? Who’s that?” the first thing that will pop into my mind will be the season he set everything on fire and made 29 other professional basketball teams look like chumps.
So now that we see Curry already meets the stated criteria to win the MVP, let’s take a look at some stats that cement that claim:
- It is currently Dec. 18 and his team has lost one game
- Averaging 32-5-6 on 52/46/90 shooting splits
- Only player averaging 30 points
- Out of top five scorers, averages fewest minutes (34.7)
- PER is 33.4 (on track for best ever)
- TS% is 68.9, best ever for a point guard
- On track to obliterate his own record of threes made in a season (record is 286; currently has 129)
- Only player ever to average 11 threes attempted per game
- Only player ever to average five made threes per game
- Leads the league in total win shares (6.7)
- Fourth in the league in usage percentage (33.2)
- Shooting 72.7% from 0-3 feet of the hoop
- Shooting 59.5% on two-pointers
- Has had seven games of 40+ points
- Season-high is 53 points on 63.0% shooting
- Warriors’ ORtg is 120.3 with him on the floor, 102.4 with him off
- Opponents’ ORtg is 98.6 with him on the floor, 108.4 with him off
- Shooting 51.2% in fourth quarters
- Shooting 58.5% on shots from 24+ feet in fourth quarters (41 attempts)
- His shot chart looks like this:
So there you have it. Rebuttals, anyone?
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In some ways, it makes for a less-exciting season, but we’re getting to see an all-time great performance. Perhaps it would be more beneficial to have a runners up race?
The one for the MVP is over. Book it.