Why Stephen Curry’s MVP Chances May Only Improve
By Tim Coyne
Beyond the obvious vested interest in their beloved home team fans, have an underlying desire for something more. Like any other consumer of entertainment, attending a movie, a concert, a play, even reading a book, sports fans want to be captivated. The possibility of a experiencing something so great they become oblivious to the thousands of strangers of which they are sharing the experience and in many cases the exorbitant amount of money they forked over to be there in the first place. Most professional athletes go entire careers without individually putting the crowd in such a state, while a select group of stars will pull off the feat just a few times each season.
Then there is Stephen Curry, the floor general for the 17-2 Warriors and the NBA’s resident crowd whisperer. The all-star guard has an unprecedented knack for connecting with the tens of thousands devotees. His legendary shooting displays routinely turn crowds into an evangelical church, overcome with joy by each improbable Curry three like fainting members of a congregation receiving a pastor’s touch to the forehead.
Dating back to his magical run college run at Davidson, Curry has always been associated with his unfathomable shooting displays.
Feb. 27, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30) goes up for a shot as New York Knicks power forward Kenyon Martin (3) defends during the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
In many ways his career has been chronicled by a series of transcendent moments — his breakout 30 point 2nd half against Gonzaga in the first round of the NCAA tournament, 25 in the next round’s second half to beat Georgetown, his 33 in the Sweet Sixteen to get past Wisconsin into the Elite 8, his 54 point night at the Garden and his 44 point night against the Spurs in the second round of his first ever playoff run. Each improbable display propelled him to a greater level of stardom and illustrated exactly where he stood among his peers.
However, it was a moment Curry experienced off the court last season that served as the greatest landmark to date. During last year’s All-Star weekend he ran into LeBron James and his “Big Three” companions, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, while Curry was being filmed for ESPN’s E:60 documentary series on his life. The cameras caught a telling scene of LeBron showering the young sharpshooter with praise for his performance in a recent thriller between the Warriors and Heat at Oracle right before the All-Star break. James giggled in amazement as he recounted a move of Curry’s and explained that he had to take the last shot at the buzzer because he could not afford to give the ball back to a player as dangerous as Curry with a chance to win the game. As LeBron gushed, his fellow veteran superstar Heat teammates Bosh and Wade nodded in agreement, with similar expressions of amazement. Curry displayed his signature courteous and humble demeanor, but it was obvious he knew as well as anyone else watching that the exchange with the four-time MVP and planet’s greatest player had marked his arrival as a bona fide superstar.
…It was obvious he knew as well as anyone else watching that the exchange with the four-time MVP and planet’s greatest player had marked his arrival as a bona fide superstar.
As we all know, Curry and the Andrew Bogut-less Warriors were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs that spring, falling in a hard-fought seven game series to the Clippers, in which there would be no stepping-stone performance from the team’s slender star. The next stage of his legendary career would have to wait.
In the early stages of this year’s campaign Curry has looked every bit the part of a player primed to make another leap up the pantheon of greatness. He was recently named the season’s first Western Conference Player of the Month and his Warriors currently sit in sole possession of the league’s best record. With a highly publicized improved defense to go with a top five ranking in player efficiency rating, win shares, box plus-minus and value over replacement, the sixth year guard is being mentioned as an early favorite for MVP honors. While the prediction has been met with a healthy amount of skepticism at this adolescent stage in the season, the claim becomes far less bold when taking a closer look at the unofficial World’s Greatest Shooter’s career stats. Since entering the league in 2009, the skinny kid from Davidson displayed a steady rise each season in points, assists, field goals made, player efficiency rating, win shares, assist percentage, usage, box plus-minus and value ver replacement. If that isn’t enough to render the sceptics mute, then maybe the fact that November has historically been his worst month for scoring and shooting percentage should do the trick.
November 14, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35, top) fights for a loose ball with Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30, bottom) during the second quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Another theory of critics is that this is a down season for the MVP race. Kevin Durant started the season injured, LeBron is still finding his way with a brand new team in Cleveland and two of Curry’s primary competitors for the award — Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins — play on teams that will likely finish the season with losing records.
However, when put next to past winners, Curry’s numbers hold up. He is certainly on pace for an MVP season. He is on pace to finish 8th among MVP winners in win shares per 48 minutes and to finish with a better player efficiency rating than Michael Jordan in ’97 and Karl Malone in ’99, along with Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Derrick Rose. Clearly the crowds he holds captive are not the only improvement since he left Davidson.
Curry’s numbers and unforgettable performances paint a picture of legend in the making almost as perfect as the pull-up jumper with which they were accumulated. However, there are obstacles that stand between him and the beautiful trophy that Durant held during his eloquent speech last year. Injuries to Curry or his trusty safety net Bogut are still a possibility, as is a Warrior rough patch and a fall from the precarious perch as they now sit.
Some variation of those two challenges will face the team at some point; how they weather that storm will likely dictate the fate of both the team’s title hopes and Curry’s MVP campaign. The following months will certainly be intriguing, but then again, when is anything involving Steph Curry not?