Warriors: Steph Curry could be a top MVP candidate in 2021-22

Coming into this past offseason, Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors thought they were poised for a quick bounce-back from the NBA’s basement to the top of the Western Conference standings.

They had a healthy Curry, who had missed most of last season, and expected to have a healthy Klay Thompson as well. However, in yet another cruel twist of fate, on the day of the NBA draft, Thompson tore his Achilles and was swiftly ruled out for the season.

Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors have had a lesser season than they’d hoped, battling to a play-in spot rather than challenging for West supremacy

That left the Warriors without one half of the league’s most dynamic scoring backcourt, and Curry would be asked to shoulder an extraordinary load simply to get his team anywhere close to the playoffs. As it turned out, the Warriors needed every bit of what has perhaps been Curry’s greatest individual season to get to the play-in tournament.

Golden State currently sits in the eighth seed with a 37-33 record and has clinched a spot in the play-in tournament where they’ll battle for a spot in the playoffs. It seems like an ignominious position for a dynastic franchise so recently removed from glory, but there’s no shame in this season’s effort.

At least not for Steph Curry.

Eye-popping numbers are nothing new for him, but he’s taken that to a whole new level after a slow start to the season. He’s leading the NBA in scoring with an average of 31.8 points, shooting 42.1 percent from 3-point range on a ridiculous 12.6 attempts per game.

He’s posting the third-highest true shooting percentage of his career at 65.6 percent, with the highest usage of his career at 34.5 percent. Even with this ultra-high load and a worse supporting cast than he’s had in any season since before the great Warriors dynasty began, he has the second-lowest turnover rate of his career at 12.1 percent.

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Curry has the ball more than ever, has less help than ever, shoots the ball as exceptionally as ever, and doesn’t make mistakes that hurt his team. It’s been nothing short of a transcendent season for him, and he’s the only reason his Warriors aren’t one of the worst teams in the NBA for the second straight year.

On a team with championship aspirations, Steph Curry would likely be the runaway MVP with the numbers he’s putting up and the massive impact he has. When he’s on the court, the Warriors have a +4.4 net rating. When he’s off, they’re -6.0. For comparison, that +4.4 net rating would be equivalent to the league’s seventh-best mark, and that -6.0 net rating equal to the league’s fifth-worst mark.

Golden State scores 114.4 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the court, and just 101.2 points per 100 possessions when he’s off.

The difference is stark, and it’s all on his shoulders.

The MVP award is all but decided this season with Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets poised to become the deserving winner, but next season could be a different story entirely. With Curry back and, God willing, Klay Thompson back as well, and possible draft capital from the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Warriors could be positioned to make a run for the top once again.

If they do, pencil Steph Curry in as your 2021-22 NBA MVP favorite.