SAN FRANCISCO – It didn’t seem that long ago that Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry was considered the best player in the league. Not only could his dead-eye shooting turn the lights out in any arena, but he and the Warriors also won at an extremely high level.
(Courtesy of NBA On TNT)
Curry led the Warriors to five consecutive NBA Finals appearances securing three NBA championships, and it could have been more had the team stayed healthy.
After their 2019 Finals loss to the Toronto Raptors, the Warriors lost Kevin Durant to free agency and several other key players from that run. Klay Thompson suffered two awful injuries, and many believed this could be the end of their championship run.
The 2020 season was a rough one for the Warriors as both Curry and fellow leader Draymond Green both were injured, and the team consequently sunk into mediocrity and Curry fell out of the best player conversation.
He bounced back last season leading the league in scoring at 32 points per game on 42 percent shooting from downtown. However, those numbers didn’t lead to much team success as the Warriors were forced to be in the Play-In tournament and lost both games to the Los Angeles Lakers and then the Memphis Grizzlies.
While the season ended up being a disappointment, the fact Curry was able to get healthy and look like the two-time MVP we saw five years ago. The problem was did he have enough talent around him to become a great team again.
With some low-key, but effective signings, the internal improvement of the team’s chemistry, and some confident young talent, the Warriors are the league’s best team through the first month of the 2021-2022 season boasting a 13-2 record.
Of course, Curry has a lot to do with that again averaging 29.5 points per game on 42 percent shooting from three-point range. Not to mention, Golden State isn’t just winning, they have dominated elite opponents at home and on the road. They’ve done it with balanced offense and a very tough team defense.
Those are attributes we didn’t always see during the championship years and Chef Curry is reminding people he can still cook up this league any time he wants and serve them up on a platter.
There’s no question he should be a clear-cut favorite for MVP this season, which if won, would be the third of his illustrious career and probably his most impressive too. Also, consider the Warriors are winning without fellow Splash Brother and All-Star guard Klay Thompson and young center James Wiseman, the number two pick from last year’s draft.
Imagine how much deeper and better they will get when those two are ready to return.
It isn’t just the prolific scoring and the jaw-dropping shows he puts on from downtown worthy of an “NBA Jam” video game, it’s the fact that Curry is leading this relatively young squad mixed with a few vets to buy-in to the team’s long-term goals.
These Warriors aren’t a top-heavy group of stars anymore; this is a deeper, younger, and hungry group capable of playing both ways, and Curry is the head chef of that brigade.
If this keeps up for the remainder of the season and beyond, adding a third league MVP to Curry’s amazing platter of accomplishments would make for the tastiest dish ever.
