Stephen Curry Wins Unanimous MVP Award for 2015-16 NBA Season
Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry has supplemented an already historic season with his second NBA Most Valuable Player Award, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported Monday.
Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported Tuesday that Curry is the first unanimous MVP in NBA history.
Kenny Ducey of Sports Illustrated provided the vote breakdown:
The NBA announced Curry will be presented the award at 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday on NBA.com and NBA TV.
Saying Curry was the best player in the league this year would be an understatement. Based on Basketball-Reference.com's play index, his 31.5 PER is the eighth-highest all-time, and he's the ninth player to enter the elusive 50-40-90 club, connecting on 50.4 percent of his field-goal attempts, 45.4 percent of his three-point attempts and 90.8 percent of his free throws.
Even as the three-pointer becomes more integral to NBA offenses, it's hard to see anyone having the kind of year Curry did beyond the arc. He shattered his own single-season three-point record, making 402 on the year and besting the old mark by 116.
Curry was capable of pulling up and connecting from anywhere inside half court. According to NBA.com, he was a 45.1 percent shooter between 25-39 feet:
| 20-24 Feet | 158 | 335 | 47.2 |
| 25-29 Feet | 252 | 565 | 44.6 |
| 30-34 Feet | 15 | 26 | 57.7 |
| 35-39 Feet | 2 | 5 | 40.0 |
| 40-plus Feet | 4 | 14 | 28.6 |
In addition, Curry needed only a little bit of separation from a defender to be a deadly shooter from deep, per NBA.com's player-tracking data:
| 0-2 Feet | 0.1 | 0.4 | 28.6 |
| 2-4 Feet | 1.2 | 3.0 | 40.2 |
| 4-6 Feet | 2.5 | 5.2 | 49.1 |
| 6-plus Feet | 1.2 | 2.7 | 45.2 |
Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz congratulated Curry on Twitter following the report:
Curry's game-winning shot against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 27 perfectly encapsulates the futility of defending him at times. Thunder guard Andre Roberson's defense wasn't even that bad, but letting up for a split second provided enough of a window for Curry to spot up and get a clean look from 32 feet:
His dominance even impacted the virtual world. NBA 2K gameplay director Mike Wang told IGN's Nicole Carpenter in February that he and the development team for NBA 2K16 had to adjust Curry's gameplay mechanics in the video game to properly illustrate their real-world equivalent.
Former Warriors coach and current ESPN analyst Mark Jackson went so far as to say the 28-year-old is hurting basketball in general, per Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver, since younger players are emulating his long-range game in a way they once did the signature moves of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash and Larry Bird, among others.
Curry's superiority won't last forever. The NBA is a copycat league. Not only will opposing teams continue to devise ways to stop the Warriors superstar, but they'll also attempt to recreate Golden State's overall style and potentially take it a step further. Just as the rest of the league caught up with the "seven seconds or less" Phoenix Suns, it will stifle the Warriors in due time too.
But that won't change what Curry and the Warriors accomplished this year. Even if it doesn't win a title, Golden State will be remembered as one of the best teams in NBA history. Of course, failing to equal last year's NBA Finals triumph would put something of a damper on an otherwise stellar campaign.
All stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
