Last season, the league was set on fire by Stephen Curry's amazing shooting and he went on to win not only back to back MVPs; he also became the first unanimous MVP. But did Stephen Curry really earn the MVP? Or was it more a case of people being enamoured by his amazing shooting ability?
Steph is the starting point guard for the Golden State Warriors, he is in charge of setting up the offense and calling plays. As a point guard, it is important to be able to get assists and be able to set up your teammates. According to ESPN.com, Steph Curry had a total of 527 assists and averaged 6.7 assists per game. He wasn't the team leader in assists. Instead, the assists leader on the Warriors last season was their starting power forward, Draymond Green with a total of 598 assists and he averaged 7.4 assists per game.
To continue with the theme of assists, Curry struggled to find the hot hand during the 2016 NBA finals. Let's start with Game five at Oracle Arena, the Warriors were one win away from winning back to back championships. Of course, the monkey wrench that was thrown in was that Draymond Green was suspended due to going over the flagrant foul limit in game four. In the first half of Game five, Klay Thompson had 26 points. In the second half, Curry couldn't find him! The unanimous MVP couldn't find Klay in the 2nd half? Are you kidding me? Of course, you have to give credit to the Cleveland Cavaliers for making adjustments, but how did Curry not find Thompson in the second half of Game five?
What about Game seven? In the first half, Green was five for five from behind the arc and Curry couldn't find him in the second half? Also, what the heck was Curry thinking trying to make a behind the back pass to Thompson on the sidelines in a game seven when Golden State was up by one? If he makes a bounce pass in that situation, perhaps Thompson scores and Golden State wins. Langston Wertz JR, author of ESPN's Stephen A. Smith critical of Stephen Curry after NBA Finals loss to the Cavs explains, "He was 1-of-6 from the field in the decisive fourth quarter. Curry finished with 17 points, barely half his season average."
Here's what ESPN First Take analyst Stephen A. Smith had to say about the MVP the day after the finals. “He’s gotta get stronger.” Curry shouldn't be let off the hook. His decision-making as a point guard was atrocious. (The stat sheet) said he had four turnovers. It felt like 10. How are you going to throw a behind-the-back pass (late in the fourth quarter) in the corner? I’m talking about momentum-stalling turnovers. What are you doing? Cleveland is making a run and you stop them and you’re making a run, and somehow, someway, you turn the ball over...You’re joking around with the basketball. Thompson’s shots were going in and out. There were times when Curry was shooting straight-up bricks.”
During the finals, the Cavs were running Curry through pick and rolls like crazy and he didn't make an adjustment to try and compensate for what the Cavaliers were doing. Along with putting Curry through the pick and roll, the Cavs also were switching who was guarding Curry. In Games one and two, Curry burned the Cavs defenders, but as the series went on, the Cavs constant switching started to drive the MVP nuts!
During the regular season, teams treated Curry like he was some pretty boy. That's why he was able to drain such long 3-pointers, like the one he hit at OKC. Being treated like a pretty boy also allowed Curry to freely dance on his defenders because he knew that he didn't have to worry about the game getting physical. This trend continued in the first two rounds of the playoffs against the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers. However, Curry got a harsh reality when GSW got to the Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder and then the Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both teams started getting physical with the MVP and it exposed him. In Game six of the Finals, Curry got ejected for the first time in his career because his emotions boiled over after fouling out due to tick-tac finals. Reality check, just because you win the MVP doesn't mean the refs are going to give you a "get no fouls called on you," card like a game of MONOPOLY. These poor performances in the playoffs don't mean that Curry didn't deserve to win MVP, but unanimous MVP may be going a little too far.
Because of how spectacular his shooting was during the regular season, Curry was able to become the first unanimous MVP in NBA history. But if Curry's shot wasn't falling, then what are you left with? Here's what Colin Cowherd thinks about Steph as the unanimous MVP. "He's 6'2", 180 pounds." If Michael Jordan's shot faded, he was still one of best defenders in the NBA. If LeBron's shot fades, he goes out and passes and rebounds. Does Curry do that?"
