Steph Curry Will Be This Season’s MVP

Steph Curry is beloved by fans and media alike. He was received the most votes for the All-Star game, he has the best-selling jersey of the year, people call him relatable, like any other normal guy, and many say he’s the best player on the best team in the league.

The facts as they stand make a clear case for Curry. He has made more three-point shots than anyone in the past five seasons. He has made 286 three-pointers this season and 653 overall field goals, making him first and second in the NBA in those respective categories. He leads the league in free throw percentage (91.4%), steals (163), and is second in overall points (1900). He also has a Value Over Replacement rating of 7.9, the best of any player in the league.

There’s more than just the stats at play for Curry, though. He has a natural gift. Some say he is best at ball handling. Some say he is best with his innate ability to read other players, to predict what they’re gonna do before they even do it. Some say both. He says all that matters is just going out on the court and forgetting what everyone else says.

Curry’s biggest competitor for MVP is James Harden of the Houston Rockets. Statistically speaking, Harden has the most win shares, the most points scored, the most free throws and the most minutes played. He is clearly valuable to his team, but he just doesn’t quite match up to all of Curry’s feats. While stats might put them in a closer match than most people would like to give Harden credit for, and Harden has no doubt worked for his team that has been laden with injuries and poor circumstances that had to be overcome, that is essentially deemed irrelevant. Harden doesn’t have the movement behind him that Curry does, and in the end that’s really all that matters.

It’s clear Curry has a great chance to be named MVP, but whether or not he actually wins the title doesn’t really matter at this point. America has already decided who their MVP is.

Why The Clippers Won’t Get Past The Spurs

Looking at the Clippers going into the playoffs, it was questionable whether they’d be able to hold their own in the playoffs, but after last night’s performance some people are wondering whether they’ve been holding out on us or if they’ll end up being the same ol’ Clippers.

1. Blake Griffin was great in last night’s game, making headline worthy dunks on Baynes three times, but played the most minutes during the game, which could be a problem is Doc Rivers tries to depend on him too much.
2. Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan held the court down for the Clippers, but the Spurs made a lot of mistakes, so they when (not if) they come out stronger, the Clippers current play might not be up to par.
3. Clippers could have played better on defense, which against the Spurs is something that is really going to hold them back going forward. The Spurs are going to have to come out strong in Game 2, so the Clippers need to step it up if they want to defeat the defending champs.
4. That being said, they still played one of the best defensive games of the season, and if this is the best, we can only assume they’re going to fall back to around their regular level as the series goes on.
5. The Clippers also need to work on their weak bench problems. Rivers played all 5 backups at once in the first half after saying he wouldn’t, which could lead to problems going forward.
6. Bench gets outscored when they play and that puts pressure on starters.
7. The Spurs played less time individually than all the starters on the Clippers, with no one playing more than Kawhi Leonard’s 33 minutes, but Griffin played 42, Jordan played 38 and Paul played 37, so the Spurs have more rotation flexibility and this will play against the Clipper’s previously discussed bench problems
8. JJ Reddick and Matt Barnes didn’t really contribute much in the last game, so if they don’t pick up slack
9. Not a strong fan base to back them up or really lend to any home court advantage (not that the Clippers are used to it)
10. Two days off gives Clipper’s starters resting time, but it also gives the Spurs a chance to come back hard with a fresh start.