Steph Curry has broken another record.
The Golden State Warriors point guard because the first player in NBA history to receive 100% of the first-place votes for Most Valuable Player. Curry, who earned the honors on Sunday, was atop a board that featured the usual MVP candidates, including Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, and Russell Westbrook.
Kawhi Leonard came in second to Steph Curry for the MVP. LeBron James came in third. Here is the final voting: pic.twitter.com/roBhnGKHPg
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) May 10, 2016
Curry was the clear-cut MVP for a reason. He averaged a league’s best 30 points per game and was a member of the 40-50-90 club. The 28-year-old would consistently do amazing, seemingly impossible things on the court. He helped lead the Warriors to a league record 73-9 record. Simply put, he had one of the best individual and team seasons in league history, so the honor is well deserved.
Prior to Curry, the closest anyone came to becoming unanimous MVP were LeBron James (2013) and Shaquille O'Neal (2000), each one vote shy.
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) May 10, 2016
There are some interesting things to gather from the MVP voting aside from Curry’s unanimous selection. Kahwi Leonard finishing second is a great indication of how far his game has progressed this season. The Defensive Player of the Year took a huge leap in his offensive game increasing his scoring average by nearly five points to 21.2 PPG while averaging a career-best 44 percent from the three. He’s now without a doubt the Spurs best player.
Another notable voting result is Russell Westbrook finishing ahead of Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Kevin Durant. While Westbrook’s scoring average was down nearly five points per game, he averaged a career-high 10.4 assists per game (second to Rajon Rondo) while also averaging a career-best 7.8 rebounds. He was a triple-double machine. Durant was also great averaging 28.2 points and a career-high 8.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists. It seems voters were more impressed with Westbrook’s improved all-around game than Durant continuing his steady greatness.
The NBA, unlike other leagues, are transparent with the media votes. They released the results and the voting was pretty level-headed. Out of Leonard’s eight fifth-place votes, one came from The Undefeated’s Marc Spears and ESPN’s Jon Barry. James Harden’s third-place vote came from Bill Worell of Root Sports Southwest. HBO’s Bill Simmons follow the general consensus and had Curry, Leonard and LeBron 1/2/3. You can find the full voting results here.
All-in-all, the media members got the voting right. There are no egregious, head-scratching decisions. Curry deserved it, as did the people behind him in the voting. Well done NBA Media.
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