Andre Iguodala doesn't believe his teammate Stephen Curry can win the Most Valuable Player award a third time considering the Golden State Warriors' rise to the top of the NBA world. Despite coming off a 51-point destruction of the Washington Wizards in a mere three quarters of action, Iguodala argues Curry's performances will always be hindered by his team's prominence.
“Ask the NBA, man,” Iguodala told Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. “It don’t matter. They say we’re bad for the NBA… I hope Steph wins every award he possibly can. He’s the best point guard in the league. But he ain’t going to get it because they say we’re too good. It is what it is.”
Kevin Durant, who won the award during the 2013-14 season before Stephen Curry earned back-to-back honors in 2014-15 and 2015-16, had a slightly different spin.
“Yeah, I think so, if you’re just looking at what’s happening on the basketball court,” said Durant. “Obviously, narratives play a big part. I think the MVP nowadays is the up-and-coming star in the NBA award.
“But it’s got to take somebody to do something like this tonight to kind of break through and change that narrative. Players that have been in the league for a while, that have won a couple of MVPs, I’m sure the voters tend to overlook them — not maliciously, but just the fact that they’re looking for the next player.
“You’ve got to wake ’em up with games like that. Steph definitely did that tonight.”
A clear example is LeBron James, the frontrunner to win the MVP award in every year's rookie and general manager surveys, but a player that hasn't won since the 2012-13 season as a member of the Miami Heat.
Curry won his first MVP by being the best player in the best team, one that had taken a leap from a noticeable playoff presence to a championship contender. He won his second by re-writing the history books, leading the Warriors to an NBA-record 73 regular season wins and an all-time best 402 3-pointers made in a season. His 50-45-90 shooting line made him an undeniable choice for the award and the first-ever player to win it unanimously.
Andre Iguodala made a good point, so it'll take a lot more pyrotechnics to float his name in the conversation as a player worthy of the highest individual award in the sport.
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