2015 NBA Power Rankings: Stacking Up All 30 Teams Before the Home Stretch
The NBA as a whole should take a bow for the week it just had. Bravo to the Association for putting together a thrilling, action-packed week, replete with nail-biters, buzzer-beaters and historic performances to excite diehards and casual fans alike.
Nine games decided by 10 points or fewer. Three games swung by clutch shots at the end of regulation. The league's preeminent player (LeBron James) getting outshone by the next guy in line (Anthony Davis). The player of the moment (Russell Westbrook) upstaging them both.
Or, in this case, Wednesday.
Must be the smell of the stretch run in the air. With the calendar turning to March, those teams toward the top—particularly the Atlanta Hawks, who this week became the first club to clinch a playoff berth—can practically taste the playoffs. Those in the middle are ravenously fighting for morsels, and those scrapping and scraping at the bottom can see the offseason in the distance.
Lots of anticipation all around, is what I'm saying.
But before we get too caught up in the future, let's assess where the Association stands in the present. Here are the 30 teams, presented in order from worst to best, based on recent performance and available personnel.
The same thing we do every week, for your viewing (and, perhaps, skewering) pleasure, just like we did last week.
30. Philadelphia 76ers
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Are you a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers? First of all, my deepest sympathies to you in these dark times.
Are you searching for some reason to follow your team, after Michael Carter-Williams and K.J. McDaniels were jettisoned at the trade deadline? Nerlens Noel's development into a defensive difference-maker is one. Jason Richardson is another.
On a squad stacked with youngsters and stragglers, the 34-year-old Richardson sticks out like the sorest of thumbs. You'd think, after spending more than two years recovering from a torn ACL, J-Rich would be content to collect checks and call it a career.
But then you'd be wrong. Richardson seems to have been reborn amid Philly's frenetic three-bombing. His 29 points, six rebounds, three assists and four treys in an overtime loss to OKC on Wednesday is a testament to as much.
As Grantland's Ben Detrick put it, "Philly still isn't winning games, but it has discovered a different way of losing—and Richardson's endearing return makes the stretch run of a path to lottery Ping-Pong balls even more entertaining."
29. New York Knicks
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What Richardson is to the Sixers, Andrea Bargnani has become to the New York Knicks: an awkwardly warming glint of sunshine peaking through a thick layer of immovable nimbus clouds.
In nine games since returning from a calf injury, Bargs has averaged a surprisingly solid 14 points while shooting 45.8 percent from the field (40 percent from three).
That's all well and good, but if you're counting on Bargnani for comfort on a cold day, you're probably in terrible shape to begin with.
Which, at a league-worst 12-48, the Knicks clearly are.
28. Orlando Magic
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Channing Frye got another look at his old team, the Phoenix Suns, on Wednesday. This time, though, he did so from the bench.
Frye chipped in just four points and four rebounds in 15 minutes during a 105-100 loss for the Orlando Magic that saw Victor Oladipo explode for a career-high 38 points. Frye has struggled all season to fit in with the Magic, due in part to a knee injury he suffered back in October.
His long-standing defensive deficiencies haven't helped him, either. According to NBA.com, Orlando's allowed 108 points per 100 possessions when he's played and 101.1 points/100 when he's sat—approximately the difference between OKC's 11th-ranked defense and New York's 29th-ranked outfit.
"He's trying defensively," head coach James Borrego told the Orlando Sentinel's Josh Robbins. "This is the most activity we've seen out of Channing defensively, and we're going to ask him to defend every night, to guard."
If Frye can defend well enough to keep himself on the court—where he's still effective as a floor-spreader on the offensive end—the Magic's $32 million investment in him might not look quite so silly.
27. Los Angeles Lakers
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Will the real Jeremy Lin please stand up? Oh, there he is, averaging 17.1 points and six assists against just one turnover while shooting 50 percent from the field over his last seven games with the Los Angeles Lakers.
"I am really happy with the way he's starting to show that consistent effort for every single night," head coach Byron Scott said after Lin stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, six boards, eight assists and three steals against the Thunder, via the Orange County Register's Bill Oram. "He's playing the way I think he's capable of playing."
Better late than never, especially with free agency less than four months away.
26. Minnesota Timberwolves
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Speaking of promising point guards who've picked it up of late, Ricky Rubio deserves some dap (emphasis on "some").
Since the All-Star break, the 24-year-old Spaniard has averaged 12.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 10 assists, 2.4 steals and 6.1 free-throw attempts. On the other hand, he's hit under 30 percent of his field goals over that span, including an unsightly 17.4 percent of his threes, and his Minnesota Timberwolves have dropped five of seven.
At the very least, the T-Wolves have been competitive in just about all of those games, save for a 15-point pounding at home against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.
25. Sacramento Kings
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A Sacramento Kings big man is about to achieve a franchise milestone.
No, not DeMarcus Cousins, though his return to the lineup has certainly been welcome.
Rather, it's Jason Thompson who's about to etch his name into the Kings' record book. As Cowbell Kingdom's James Ham pointed out, Thompson will play in his 519th game Friday, passing Peja Stojakovic for the most by a King in the Sacramento era.
"I think it's going to be bittersweet," Thompson told Cowbell Kingdom. "But to say when I got drafted on June 26, 2008, for me to be the longest-tenured King, whatever date that's going to be, I didn't think I would be able to say that. So for me to be a starting power forward in this league and for this team, it's definitely a good accomplishment."
Chances are, Thompson would be more ecstatic about the accomplishment if the Kings had won more than 165 of their 535 games since he first arrived in the NBA.
24. Denver Nuggets
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Veterans around the league had some harsh words for the Denver Nuggets in the aftermath of head coach Brian Shaw's dismissal.
"No grownups on the roster," said Pacers forward David West, a pupil during Shaw's days on Frank Vogel's staff in Indiana, via Pacers reporter Scott Agness. "You can't win without grownups."
"They quit on Brian Shaw," Kevin Garnett said flatly, per CBS Sports' Matt Moore. "I thought, you know, they'd quit again. A quitter is a quitter."
Perhaps the Nuggets quit on Shaw, but they haven't given up on the season entirely. Garnett saw that up close Wednesday, when his T-Wolves suffered a 15-point loss to the Nuggets, now coached by Melvin Hunt. That result moved Denver to 2-0 under Hunt after losing 19 of their previous 21 games with Shaw at the helm.
23. Detroit Pistons
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Greg Monroe, considered a goner after signing a one-year qualifying offer with the Detroit Pistons this past summer, might stay in Motown for a while after all.
"Absolutely, absolutely," David Falk, Monroe's agent, told MLive.com's David Mayo when asked if his client would consider re-signing with the Pistons as an unrestricted free agent in July.
Monroe's production on the court suggests he might want to stick around. He's averaging 15.7 points, a career-high 10.6 rebounds and 4.8 free-throw attempts under Stan Van Gundy this season—16.5 points, 12.0 boards and 4.9 free throws if you look just at what he's done since Josh Smith was cut loose.
Monroe, though, will consider much more than just his own production when figuring out where he wants to continue his career.
"It's a question of what the intangibles are," Falk added. "Where do you want to live? Who do you want to play with? Is there a coach you want to play for? Do you want to be a star of a rebuilding team, or do you want to be a complement player on a championship team? So it's all intangible."
To that end, the Pistons, at 23-37 and losers of their last four games, have their work cut out for them as far as Monroe is concerned.
22. Utah Jazz
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The Rudy Gobert era is here, and judging by the early results, it's probably here to stay.
The Utah Jazz have won five of seven—including impressive victories over the Grizzlies, Spurs, Blazers and Bucks—since jettisoning Enes Kanter at the trade deadline and dropping Gobert into his starting spot. Those two losses have come by a total of four points, though falling to the Lakers and Celtics isn't a good look these days.
Still, Utah has to be happy with what it's gotten out of Gobert. The second-year center out of France is averaging 10.6 points, 13.3 rebounds and 3.3 blocks over his last seven starts.
More importantly, as Grantland's Kirk Goldsberry detailed, the Jazz have been a suffocating defensive force at the rim with Gobert manning the middle: "Since Feb. 1, Utah is the only team in the league holding opponents to under 50 percent shooting inside of eight feet."
21. Brooklyn Nets
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Dr. Jekyll doesn't have anything on the Brooklyn Nets.
This past week alone, they went from knocking off the Dallas Mavericks on the road and upending the Golden State Warriors at home to getting blown out in their own building by the Charlotte Hornets.
Apparently, that's what happens when Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez combine to shoot 6-of-22 from the field.
On the whole, though, the Nets have been better since Williams returned to the starting lineup. The defeat at the Hornets' hands aside, Brooklyn has won four games and lost two others by a total of 10 points with D-Will nabbing his spot back from Jarrett Jack.
20. Boston Celtics
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According to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, the Boston Celtics came close to signing JaVale McGee, recently bought out by the Sixers, but the two sides failed to agree on how to structure an option for the 2015-16 season.
The C's weren't exactly starved for young bigs, much less ones with track records as spotty as McGee's. Kelly Olynyk, the second-year big out of Gonzaga, had done some solid floor-stretching for head coach Brad Stevens prior to spraining his right ankle and missing 18 games. He returned Wednesday versus the Jazz.
That same game saw Tyler Zeller, another center acquired from the Cavaliers in a three-team deal over the summer, twist and turn his way toward a buzzer-beating layup to top Utah 85-84.
Long term, Olynyk and Zeller may not be the solutions at center that the Celtics are looking for. Then again, the oft-injured McGee might not have been, either.
19. Washington Wizards
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Bradley Beal's absence might not have been the root of the Washington Wizards' woes after all. They beat the Pistons in Beal's first game back but subsequently dropped a five-point decision to the shorthanded Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.
"We've got to go out and play," head coach Randy Wittman said after the loss, via The Washington Post's Jorge Castillo. "Play hard every play. Play with more effort. More plays with effort than non-effort.
"That's kind of basically what it is. Until we do that we're going to struggle and it's all of us together in that. And that's kind of basically what it boils down to. I wish it was a strategy thing. We just take too many plays off."
Indeed, consistent effort (or lack thereof) has been Washington's biggest problem of late. The Wizards have dropped 12 of their last 15, including five in a row prior to Beal's stress injury, to fall from second in the East to fifth.
18. Phoenix Suns
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Things haven't gone so smoothly since the Phoenix Suns essentially swapped out Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas for Brandon Knight. They've lost five of eight since the trade deadline, including a 17-point pounding at the hands of Dragic's new team, the Miami Heat, and have fallen to 10th place in the West as a result.
Truth be told, the Suns made those moves not to improve now but rather to set themselves up to be stronger down the line.
"I know it's tempting with where we are to say let's go for it," Suns general manager Ryan McDonough told NBA.com's David Aldridge. "But my goal has never been to put a team that can just make the playoffs and get our ass kicked in the first round. We want to build something more sustainable."
That may pay off for Phoenix later, but for now, this squad will be hard-pressed to push its way back into the Western Conference's top eight, especially with tilts against the Cavaliers, Warriors and Hawks coming up this week.
17. Milwaukee Bucks
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There's still some mystery surrounding what exactly is going on with Larry Sanders and why he left the Milwaukee Bucks and the NBA, even after he explained himself (albeit somewhat vaguely) to The Players' Tribune. According to ESPN.com's Kevin Arnovitz, there's more to Sanders' situation than the former center is letting on.
Either way, the Bucks could probably use Sanders' skills in the middle. They've lost four in a row and six of seven, with three of their last four opponents scoring more than 100 points against the league's second-ranked defense.
16. Charlotte Hornets
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Good news: The Charlotte Hornets have won three in a row and four of their last five games.
Better news: That recent success has propelled the Hornets back into the East's top eight.
Best news: Kemba Walker has been cleared to resume all basketball activities. Per The Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell, Hornets coach Steve Clifford thinks Walker could be back in action by mid-March.
And if Walker's return has to wait, Charlotte can continue to lean on Mo Williams, who's averaged 21.6 points and 8.9 assists while knocking down 41.1 percent of his threes since coming over from Minnesota.
15. Miami Heat
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If there's one thing to take away from Goran Dragic's chat with Bleacher Report's Jared Zwerling, it's that his partnership with the Miami Heat could be a beautiful thing over the long haul.
They clearly needed the upgrade, both to fill a massive hole at point guard and push the pace for what's still, according to NBA.com, the Association's slowest squad. So far, he's delivered, with four 20-point games in seven outings with the Heat.
Dragic, of course, is getting plenty out of the arrangement, too. The team is rushing him hard, like he's a wily freshman checking out frat row in the fall.
And, well, the Heat are letting him—nay, asking him to—play his preferred position, unlike his situation in Phoenix, via Zwerling:
"To be honest, it feels like I've never played point guard before. I was off the ball in the corner in Phoenix, and you lose that grip a little bit. But with every game I feel more comfortable and, of course, this is what I was working all my life to be—a point guard. And I'm happy with that.
"
Dragic and the Heat aren't counting their eggs before they hatch. He'll still rack up plenty of mileage during free agency.
So far, though, Miami has to feel good about its chances of keeping Dragic in town—and getting back to winning big in short order.
14. Indiana Pacers
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Those other teams currently competing for the fringe playoff spots in the East had better hold onto their butts; Paul George and the Indiana Pacers are coming for their seats.
"He's practicing full-out now," head coach Frank Vogel said this week, via Vigilant Sports' Scott Agness. "I think he's done three or four practices now. He's not at full strength yet so he's still got some hurdles to get past before he's able to get out onto the court and play in games. We're hopeful that that happens this year. We'll see how the next few weeks progress."
Indy isn't exactly desperate for his return right now, either. The Pacers have won three in a row and nine of their past 11 to pull within a half-game of a postseason berth.
And they've done it, of course, with great defense. According to NBA.com, Indy ranks third in the league in defensive efficiency since the start of February, holding opponents to 98.1 points per 100 possessions—a tick behind what the Warriors have done for all season.
13. Toronto Raptors
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The early portion of the 2014-15 campaign was all about winning time for the Toronto Raptors. Recently, it's been more like worrying time, with Toronto having lost six of seven and Kyle Lowry resting off nagging injuries.
That time off may well prove to be just what the doctor ordered for Lowry and the Raptors. "There are things I want to get healthier," Lowry said Thursday, via the Toronto Star's Mark Zwolinski. "I want to get back to a higher level."
The Raptors will need Lowry to do just that if they, too, are to reach a higher level in the weeks (and, they probably hope, months) to come.
12. Dallas Mavericks
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It would be a little too easy to point the finger at Rajon Rondo for the Dallas Mavericks dropping three of their last four games, including a 94-75 loss in Portland on Thursday. He missed the blowout in Atlanta after his clash with head coach Rick Carlisle and combined for 18 points and eight turnovers in the other two defeats.
But the Mavs have been hamstrung by other concerns of late, too—namely, Tyson Chandler's hip and Chandler Parsons' ankle. The former chipped in four points and 14 rebounds against the Blazers after missing three straight. The latter has been on the shelf for six straight games.
Without those two, Dallas' offensive rhythm has suffered. Parsons is a lethal threat on the perimeter. Chandler is the key to the Mavs' pick-and-roll attack.
Rondo might not be a perfect fit in Big D, but the absence of two key contributors hasn't made things any easier.
11. New Orleans Pelicans
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Anthony Davis Watch is back in business, folks!
The Brow didn't waste any time getting back to dominating the NBA. In his return from a five-game absence on account of a bum shoulder, Davis piled up 39 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks. As if those numbers weren't impressive enough on their own, Davis did that against the Detroit Pistons, whose front line of Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond isn't too shabby.
As Grantland's Jason Gallagher put it, the timing of Davis' comeback could be fortuitous for the New Orleans Pelicans' slim postseason hopes:
"New Orleans's next 10 games include Boston, Denver, Milwaukee (twice), Brooklyn and Phoenix. Considering that cake schedule, Brow's return, the recent run of success and OKC still playing without [Kevin] Durant, it's not as crazy as it sounds. We could be on the precipice of history: finally witnessing our beloved Anthony Davis in the playoffs.
"
Then we'd really have something to watch.
10. Chicago Bulls
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E'Twaun Moore deserves plenty of respect for scoring 13 of his career-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, including the three-pointer that put the Chicago Bulls up for good in their 108-105 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. For that, he earned the honor of being Craig Sager's first postgame interview upon returning from a 10-plus-month hiatus to fight off leukemia.
Long term, though, it's another star reserve (Nikola Mirotic) who could really be a difference-maker for the Bulls. The Montenegrin rookie went off for 26 points—his third straight game with at least 20 points.
Andrew Wiggins has practically wrapped up Rookie of the Year honors, but Mirotic, by virtue of being on a top-notch Chicago squad, could ultimately have the bigger impact on the league's overall picture this season. With Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson all sidelined by injury, the Bulls will need whatever they can get from whomever is ready to give it, Mirotic included.
9. Los Angeles Clippers
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The Los Angeles Clippers have done an admirable job of fighting through injuries to remain competitive against (and even beat) quality opponents. They were able to win seven in a stretch of nine games during Blake Griffin's ongoing absence, including five wins over Western Conference playoff teams, with Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan stepping up their respective games.
But there's only so many key players any team, especially one as thin as the Clippers, can lose without suffering some sort of drop-off. L.A. was in prime position to beat the Portland Trail Blazers with Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes joining Griffin among the wounded, but it hasn't been the sort of consistent, top-flight defensive squad this season that can hang onto a lead against a quality opponent without picking up some buckets.
"I would never tell our players this, but I told our staff that this cannot be an offensive game tonight," head coach Doc Rivers told the media after his team's 98-93 overtime loss. "We have Blake out and we have Jamal out. We had to make this a mud-slinging, low-scoring game."
Trouble is, that's not really what the Clippers have been at heart under Rivers. They played the part well for most of the game but couldn't quite keep it together in crunch time, when the Blazers hacked Jordan and took L.A. out of its offensive flow. Jordan's mental lapse at the end of the game proved costly, as Portland fell in overtime.
Fortunately for the Clippers, Griffin, Crawford and Barnes could all be back in time for Sunday's marquee matchup with the rival Golden State Warriors.
8. Houston Rockets
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James Harden and the NBA didn't get along so well this week, to say the least—much to the detriment of the Houston Rockets.
First, the league suspended Harden a game for his kick to LeBron James' nether regions. The Rockets played surprisingly well in Atlanta without him but ultimately succumbed to the Hawks.
Then, Harden got jobbed on a drive that should've earned him a pair of free throws to have, at the very least, ensured that Marc Gasol's game-ending jumper wouldn't have won it for Memphis on Wednesday.
"Very surprised," Harden said after the game, when asked if he was surprised he didn't get a whistle on that play, via Yahoo Sports' Dan Devine. He continued:
"You know, at the end of the game, I think everybody's watching the ball. Everybody. The entire crowd. Everybody in the gym is watching the ball. So, I mean ... [shrugs] ... I don't know what to say. It's frustrating, man. It's frustrating when you fight so hard to come back, when you get an opportunity to win the game, you know. It's frustrating.
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Good news is, the Rockets might not have to lean so heavily on Harden soon enough. According to the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen, Dwight Howard is progressing well from his knee injury.
"He's coming along," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "I saw him on the treadmill which is a good sign, but I haven't seen him on the floor. Until you see him on the floor, who knows."
Until then, Harden and the Rockets could use a hand from the officials if they can get one—well, more than usual, anyway.
7. San Antonio Spurs
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Tony Parker seems to enjoy playing against the Sacramento Kings.
His San Antonio Spurs played them twice in the past week. Both times, Parker scored 19 points to propel the Spurs to victory. Those are also Parker's only double-digit scoring efforts in his last six outings.
The Spurs had better hope Parker can get himself going against other teams, too. They've already exhausted their allotment of meetings with Sacramento this season.
And, well, they're not going to have much luck defending their title turf without a healthy and productive Parker leading the way.
6. Oklahoma City Thunder
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There's no denying how phenomenally Russell Westbrook has been playing all season, but he's taken his game to another level since Kevin Durant's foot started bothering him again.
Four straight triple-doubles (since ended), the longest such streak since Michael Jordan put up seven in a row in 1989. Three consecutive 40-point games, the first time any Oklahoma City Thunder player has pulled that off. Enough jaw-dropping plays to break YouTube, Twitter, Vine, Instagram, Facebook...and probably Pinterest, too.
There's also no denying the Thunder miss Durant. They haven't beaten a winning team since taking Dallas down at home right after the All-Star break.
Their losses to Phoenix, Portland and Chicago have all been close, but they could certainly use that sweet cigar of a jumper that Durant wields to get them over those all-important humps.
5. Portland Trail Blazers
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Thursday night's 94-75 win over the Mavs was nothing if not a Pyrrhic victory for the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Blazers dominated another playoff team at home, a night after pulling out an overtime win over another (the Clippers) on the road.
But the course of Portland's latest triumph was the scene of a potentially devastating loss of one of its own. The team announced after the game that Wesley Matthews would miss the remainder of the 2014-15 campaign after tearing his Achilles—worse still for Wes, whose contract is up after this season.
The Blazers should be able to weather a chunk of that blow, with recent acquisition Arron Afflalo standing in at shooting guard for Matthews. But Afflalo, for all his ability, isn't likely to make up for Matthews' absence entirely, in part because he still has a lot to learn about what the Blazers do.
"You can tell it's just a work in progress," said Doc Rivers, prior to his Clippers' loss to the Blazers on Wednesday. "That's the difficulty with making adjustments late in the season because it's more on him than them in some ways. If you do it early, in the beginning of the season, then it's more on them. But late in the season, it's more on him. They're not going to wait for him. They're going to keep playing, and he has to figure it out."
Even quicker, now that he's about to be thrust into the thick of a championship chase.
4. Memphis Grizzlies
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Marc Gasol isn't just the best center in the NBA. He might be the most clutch big in the league, as well.
Gasol bolstered those credentials with yet another buzzer-beater Wednesday, this time to help the Memphis Grizzlies upend the Rockets on the road.
All told, Gasol has scored 88 points in "crunch time"—the 10th most in the league this season, per NBA.com—on 47.6 percent shooting.
If there ever comes a time when the Grizzlies can't get the ball to Gasol in a pinch, they can always turn to Mike Conley, who's second on that list with 106 points on 46.1 percent from the floor.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
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If LeBron James is the straw that stirs the Cleveland Cavaliers' drink, Kyrie Irving is the one who causes their cup to overflow.
The Cavs came close to topping the Pacers sans James and Irving, and James had his chances to lead Cleveland to victory in Houston while Irving rested his strained shoulder. But the Cavs, lacking that extra oomph that Irving brings to the table, ultimately fell short on both occasions.
Cleveland had no such trouble dispatching Boston and Toronto with Irving back in the lineup. If this small sample isn't enough to quell early-season concerns about how Irving would adjust to playing alongside James and Kevin Love, his averages of 21.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists on a career-high 40.2 percent three-point shooting should suffice.
2. Atlanta Hawks
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At last, Dominique Wilkins has a statue of his own in Atlanta. On Thursday, the Hawks unveiled a 13-and-a-half-foot bronze likeness of Wilkins, the franchise's greatest player since it moved from St. Louis to Atlanta in 1968.
It took the Hawks far too long to honor The Human Highlight Film with such immortality, but the fact that it's come during such a spectacular season in Atlanta is kind of perfect.
Of course, 'Nique is enjoying this Hawks squad, whose strengths he described in an interview with Grantland's Jonathan Abrams:
"We defend on the basketball. Not a lot of teams in the NBA actually defend up front. Secondly, they trust one another. They love one another. Thirdly, we've got 10 guys who can shoot. Then you've got Jeff Teague, who in my opinion is the engine that makes this team run.
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Not quite the engine Wilkins was back in his day, but with a roster as balanced as Atlanta's, these Hawks may not need a scorer as dominant as Dominique to compete for a championship this spring.
1. Golden State Warriors
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Stephen Curry may well wind up as the NBA's MVP this season. He's the best player on a Golden State Warriors squad that doubles as (arguably) the league's best team.
Moreover, he's saved their rear ends on more than a few occasions. Curry added to that tally Sunday, with 37 points to lead the Dubs back from a 26-point deficit in Boston.
Adding a Maurice Podoloff Trophy to his lofty collection of accolades would do plenty to validate Curry's rise to superstardom—not just in the NBA but in the world at large.
"He has become a superstar that is on the verge of becoming an icon," Bob McKillop, Curry's college coach at Davidson, told Bleacher Report's Michael Kruse. "To make that transition is something that is reserved for a rare few."
If Curry is named league MVP, it won't be the result of any campaigning on head coach Steve Kerr's part.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
