Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been crowned the 2014-15 NBA Most Valuable Player.
Curry comfortably saw off competition from James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James.
Curry totaled 1,198 points, including 100 of 130 first-place votes, from a panel of 129 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, as well as the Kia MVP fan vote on NBA.com. Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five points for each third-place vote, three points for each fourth-place vote and one point for each fifth-place vote.
Rounding out the top five in the voting were the Houston Rockets’ James Harden (936 points, 25 first-place votes), the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (552 points, five first-place votes), the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook (352 points) and the New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis (203 points).
Curry helped the Warriors win a franchise-record 67 games by averaging 23.8 points (sixth in the NBA), 7.7 assists (sixth), a career-high 2.04 steals (fourth) and 4.3 rebounds. The 27-year-old Curry made 286 three-pointers, breaking his own NBA record of 272 set in 2012-13. He shot 48.7 percent from the field and ranked fourth in the league in three-point field goal percentage (44.3). Curry also led the NBA in free throw percentage (91.4), converting a career-high 52 consecutive free throws from March 9 to April 4.
With Curry leading the way, Golden State became the 10th team in NBA history to win at least 67 games in a season. The Warriors scored 920 more points than they allowed with Curry on the court, the highest plus/minus for any player this season and an average of 11.5 points in his 80 appearances.
Curry’s consistency throughout the season mirrored that of the Warriors. He was named the Kia NBA Western Conference Player of the Month for October/November, when Golden State went 14-2 as part of a 21-2 start. Curry finished strong, too, shooting 51.7 percent (125-for-242) from three-point range after the All-Star break, when the Warriors went 25-6.
Curry receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honor of the NBA’s first commissioner, who served from 1946 until his retirement in 1963.
Information from the NBA was used in this report.
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