2016: Stephen Curry made so many three-pointers in 2015-16 that he was a shoe-in for NBA Most Valuable Player. Everybody with a ballot agreed.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry becomes the first unanimous Most Valuable Player in NBA history after leading the Warriors to the league’s best regular-season record ever. Curry, who averaged 30.1 points per game, shattered his own NBA mark for three-pointers in a single-season with 402—he had set the record with 286 treys the season before, when he was also MVP. He was the face of a suddenly dominant team that won its first 24 games and finished 73-9, one game better than the record set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.
Curry, now in his 15th season with the Warriors, was only the 11th player ever to be named MVP in back-to-back seasons. Ironically, that second one did not result in a championship, as LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team to rally to win the NBA Finals after a three games-to-one deficit. But Curry’s first MVP honor the year before coincided with Golden State’s first NBA title in 40 years, and the Warriors would win the crown in 2017 and 2018, too.
The 6-2, 185-pound point guard is arguably the best shooter in NBA history. Curry’s three-point ability has changed the NBA, and he’s led the league in that category a record eight times. Curry became the all-time leader in three-pointers two years ago, and his current total is 3,747. Those 402 treys during his 2015-16 MVP season are a record that still stands (and may forever). Curry’s personal best in a single game is 13 three-pointers, set in a game against New Orleans in November, 2016. He once had a streak of 268 straight games with a made three-pointer, another NBA record. That ended last December.
Curry was something of a mid-major sensation during his college days at Davidson. He was 2007 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and scored 30 points in his first NCAA Tournament game. As a sophomore, Curry broke the NCAA single-season record with 162 three-pointers. He led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight, including an 82-76 win over Gonzaga that saw him score 30 of his 40 points in the second half. Curry left Davidson for the NBA after his junior season, when he led the nation in scoring and was named a consensus first-team All-American.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)