He returned from a sprained right knee to score 40 points, and 17 more in overtime, in a 132-125 win at Portland to put his team up 3-1 in the Western Conference semi-finals.
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As for the rest of the list, a distant second place went to San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard, who edged out four-time MVP LeBron James by three points, while Oklahoma City Thunder players Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant rounded out the fourth and fifth spots.
Stephen Curry made National Basketball Association history, becoming the first player to ever receive a unanimous vote for league MVP, and his wife has taken notice. He led the league in scoring, averaging 30.1 points per game while also collecting the most steals.
If you are looking for justification for including Curry on the NBA’s Mt. Rushmore beyond his Pop-a-Shot-like numbers, there it is.
Kerry ran into Dell and Sonya Curry after the game, and Sonya had the same question: Can Steph make it in the National Basketball Association? “I’ve never seen it evolve in six months”, Nash said.
Curry is the 11th person to win back-to-back MVP awards and joins an illustrious club that includes the likes of James, Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
In his career, Curry has averaged 22.4 points, 6.9 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Curry, now one of the most recognizable athletes worldwide, will be presented with his MVP trophy Tuesday at Oracle Arena before trying to close out the series against the Trail Blazers at home Wednesday night.
He shattered his own record for most three-pointers, which had stood at 286, with 402.
Curry shared his achievement with his family and nearby defending league champion teammates.
“Let’s win the championship and find a way to get it done and really set our place in history with the opportunity that we have in front of us”, Curry said, adding that people might have thought they weren’t deserving past year.
“We want to go out there and make sure they respect us and make sure that they understand that it’s not going to be what everybody think it’s going to be”, Lillard said after Game 4. When Curry was cleared to play shortly before tipoff, the countdown to his first deep bomb began.
“Its totally different than a year ago”.
Curry asked that the Warriors embrace “a special time” for the team after a 73-win season. Once he hit a 3-point shot with 1:51 remaining in overtime Monday night, he emphatically said what fans in the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, already knew.
“We were one or two stops away from winning the game”, Lillard said after Game 4.
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“When Steph would have a game like this previous year, (former Warriors assistant) Alvin Gentry would say I’ve got two plays for you”.
