There's still a ton of basketball left to be played in the 2022 NBA Finals. Neither team faces elimination just yet ahead of a pivotal Game 5. But if there's one thing for certain in this still completely wide open series, it's that Stephen Curry has been the best player by far. Could he be so far ahead that he deserves the Finals MVP award regardless of who wins?
The Golden State Warriors could very well just win the next two games and win their fourth NBA title in the last eight seasons. The debate becomes entirely moot at that point.
If the Boston Celtics do end up winning, it's likely that one of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, or even Marcus Smart steps up big time and makes the decision easier for the eleven voter panel deciding on said award.
But assuming the status quo on the stat sheet persists with the Celtics squeaking out two wins against a godlike Steph Curry putting the Warriors on his shoulders – things could get dicey.
The Case for Stephen Curry to Win Finals MVP even if Warriors lose
The only time it's been done in NBA history
There's only one instance in the history of the NBA wherein the Finals MVP award went to a player on a losing team. That was Jerry West in the 1969 Finals series between the Los Angeles Lakers and, appropriately, the Boston Celtics.
The boys from Beantown ultimately won the series in seven hard fought games, but West was simply far and away the best player in the series and it wasn't remotely close. West averaged 37.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game while shooting 49.0% from the field. Nobody else from his own team even averaged 20 points per contest. He averaged more than double the next highest contributor, Elgin Baylor, who normed 18.0 points on sub .400 shooting through seven games.
The Celtics received a superb series from John Havlicek, who himself posted 28-11-4 on 45.7% shooting. But you'd be hard pressed to compare the level of impact he had towards winning to that of West for the Lakers.
Everyone was left mesmerized by Stephen Curry's 43-point outburst in Game 4 against the Celtics, but Jerry West was even more incendiary in 1969. He poured in 53 points and 10 assists in a 120-118 Game 1 win for the Lakers. He also had games with point totals of 42, 41, 40, and 39 for the purple and gold. He did that without a three-point line, too.
Why Stephen Curry is entering 1969 West territory
For Stephen Curry to pull off a losing Finals MVP coronation, he has to set himself apart to the same extent that West did during the 1969 Lakers-Celtics series. So far, he's done just that.
Steph Curry is averaging an eye-popping 34.3 points per game, more than 12 points above the next two highest scorers on the Celtics in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who are both at 22.3 PPG. He even averages more than his next two highest scoring teammates in Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins combined. He's playing 4D chess while everyone's playing checkers, people.
The Warriors point guard not only outscores everyone by a mile and a half, he's also lightyears ahead of them in terms of efficiency. The man taking mind-bending threes off the dribble is somehow averaging 50% from the field and 49% from the three-point arc while also adding 6.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.0 steals for good measure.
What will ultimately hold Steph Curry back
Two words. LeBron James. Yes, in a postseason run that didn't even feature LeBron James at all, he could very well be the largest counterpoint to why Stephen Curry likely will need to win the title to claim the Finals MVP trophy, no exceptions.
If you're talking unequivocal value towards winning, LeBron James was the definition of that for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015. The man posted 36-13-9 while playing 46 minutes per night on a team whose next best player was Timofey Mozgov, who averaged 14 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Cavs.
And yet they gave the award to Andre Iguodala, whose counting stats at 16-6-4 were all literally less than half of King James' total. If voting committee would rather give the award to a winning Iguodala over a losing LeBron given such circumstances, then Stephen Curry will have a virtually impossible challenge in trying to do the same, assuming precedent holds true.
But… could it possibly, maybe happen? Here's how.
What won Iguodala the Finals MVP over LeBron and even Stephen Curry was narrative. Much was made about how he defended LeBron James all series to “limit” him and make him work for his contributions. A great narrative sways the jurors just as well as the facts do, if not better sometimes,
What Jerry West had in his favor over LeBron James can also be summed up in two words: Game 7. West and the Lakers fell in seven games, falling by just two points in the 108-106 Game 7 that could have very well ended up differently had the ball bounced LA's way in the closing moments.
West put in a legendary performance in that final game of the season that produced 42 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists while playing all 48 minutes of action.
For Stephen Curry to win the Finals MVP award in a losing effort, it has to be under similar circumstances. The Warriors fall in closely fought Game 7 wherein Curry laid it all out on the line to get the narrative flowing in his favor.
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