Frail ankles, porous defense and an inability to finish at the rim are all criticisms that have dogged Stephen Curry throughout his NBA career. The Golden State Warriors star halted his detractors once and for all in 2014-15 and will reportedly be named the league’s Most Valuable Player for his troubles.
Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area first reported the news, and Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports confirmed.
The NBA is expected to make the announcement on Monday, with the trophy presentation to come on Tuesday before Game 2 against the Memphis Grizzlies, according to the Associated Press via ABC 7 in San Francisco.
Spears put in perspective just how rare this is for the Warriors franchise:
Stephen Curry will be only the second Warriors player to win the NBA MVP award. The other: Wilt Chamberlain of 1959-60 Philadelphia Warriors
Curry, 27, beat out Houston Rockets guard James Harden, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis and Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul.
Perhaps the NBA’s most skilled shooter, Curry broke his own NBA record for three-pointers in a season (286) en route to averaging 23.8 points and 7.7 assists per game. The Warriors also won a franchise-record 67 games, blitzing a competitive Western Conference with one of the best point differentials in league history.
Steph Curry & Klay Thompson made a combined 525 three-pointers this season – that’s more than 5 NBA teams!
“He’s our MVP,” fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson said in April, per Sekou Smith of NBA.com, “and he should be for the league because he does it on a nightly basis and he’s at his best at crunch time.”
Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Curry’s season is this: Despite the Warriors’ gaudy point differential, they were somehow outscored during the minutes Curry spent on the bench. In the 2,615 minutes he spent on the floor, Golden State outscored its opponents by 16.6 points per 100 possessions; in the 1,331 minutes he was on the bench, that point differential flipped to minus-1.2.
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SOURCE: Bleacher Report – Tyler Conway
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