Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry has won MVP for the past two seasons, but he will not be receiving the award for a third consecutive time in 2016-17; the finalists for the award are James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Kawhi Leonard. Curry is unconcerned with being left off of that list, he tells ESPN’s Chris Haynes:
He said not being in the MVP discussion didn’t bother him. He has bigger goals to accomplish. If his high level of play persists and the Warriors manage to rack up four more wins, Westbrook and Harden won’t be the talk of the summer.
It will be Curry.
“You look at those guys [Harden and Westbrook], numbers-wise, they had separated themselves just on sheer numbers and stats and the wow factor of what they’re doing, and they deserve that attention because they all had amazing seasons,” Curry said. “So, it obviously helps me to say that having won a couple times, but at the end of the day, I don’t need that kind of validation to know what my role is on the team, and how I can help my team win, and being in a situation where we’re playing for championships now, so that’s the biggest thing.”
Curry became the first player to ever be unanimously voted MVP in 2015-16, but with the addition of Kevin Durant and the Warriors taking the regular season a little less seriously in 2016-17, Curry didn’t have much of an MVP case this time around.
He still had a great 2016-17 campaign; Curry averaged 25.3 points, 6.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game on .468/.411/.898. In 2015-16, though he averaged 30.1 points, 6.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game on absurd .504/.454/.908 shooting splits.
