Curry named first-ever unanimous NBA MVP
It's official, and it's unanimous.
As expected, Golden State Warriors point guard/human flamethrower Stephen Curry was named the NBA Most Valuable Player on Tuesday for the second consecutive season.
He received all 131 first-place votes, making him the first player in league history to win the award unanimously, in the 61st year the MVP has been handed out. A few guys have come close, but only Curry has authored complete consensus.
Largest % of votes received, MVP voting history
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 10, 2016
Curry: 100%, '15-'16
LeBron: 99.8%, '12-'13
Shaq: 99.8%, '99-'00
Garnett: 99.1%, '03-'04
Kawhi Leonard edged out LeBron James by just three total voting points for second place, while Oklahoma City Thunder teammates Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant rounded out the top five. Chris Paul, Draymond Green, Damian Lillard, James Harden, and Kyle Lowry also received votes.
| Player | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Curry | 131 | ||
| Kawhi Leonard | 54 | 34 | |
| LeBron James | 40 | 48 | |
| Russell Westbrook | 29 | 37 | |
| Kevin Durant | 2 | 7 |
On top of being the first unanimous winner, Curry is just the 11th player in NBA history to win back-to-back MVPs.
He not only picked up where he left off from his magnificent 2014-15 season, he raised his game, capturing his first scoring title with 30.1 points per contest. In doing so, he became the first player in NBA history to average more than 30 points in less than 35 minutes a night.
So impressive was his follow-up campaign, Curry was actually voted the league's fourth-most improved player, making him the first reigning MVP to finish in the top 10 in Most Improved Player voting. All the while, his defending champion Warriors won an NBA record 73 games.
As the poster boy for the new, shot-efficient NBA, Curry dominated from beyond the arc and at the rim, while mostly eschewing the mid-range game:
Stephen Curry's season shot chart for his historic 2015-16 campaign: https://t.co/QYxcrS1XPF pic.twitter.com/Sj0GX8jtT5
— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 14, 2016
His 402 made 3-pointers destroyed the NBA record he himself set a season ago - when he hit 286.
In further testament to his unprecedented range, Curry shot 42.1 percent from 30 feet and beyond. He also came close to registering the highest player efficiency rating in league history. Here are his final regular-season numbers:
| 2015-16 | FG% | 3P% | FT% | TS% | PTS | AST | STL | PER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Curry | 50.4 | 45.4 | 90.8* | 66.9* | 30.1* | 6.7 | 2.1* | 31.5* |
* - Led NBA
After being forced to sit out the majority of the playoffs thus far due to a knee injury, it's fitting that the announcement comes a day after Curry returned to the court to destroy the Portland Trail Blazers' souls, scoring a (you guessed it) league-record 17 overtime points to carry the Warriors' to a Game 4 win and 3-1 series lead.