Curry Should Win MVP

Tyler J. ScottTHE SANTA CLARAFebruary 19, 2014 

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he “Baby-Faced Assassin” should take home the hardware for MVP this season, not just because of his stat-line, but because he’s changing the league.

Averaging 23.6 points and 7.9 assists per game and leading the Golden State Warriors to the NBA’s best record at 42-9, it should be a no-brainer. He’s shooting 48.1 percent from the field overall and 39.9 percent from beyond the arc.

He has risen to become one of the most popular players in the league behind a pretty looking jump shot and a youthful countenance.

Behind Stephen Curry, the Warriors have become the most entertaining team to watch in the NBA.

He was the leading vote-earner for the 2015 All-Star Game with over 1.5 million votes, and his jersey has been the fastest selling since the beginning of 2015.

Little League pitcher phenom Mo’ne Davis showed up to a Warriors game sporting a No. 30 jersey and called him her favorite player. It’s obvious that he’s becoming the younger generation’s favorite superstar.

When the 3-point line was introduced in 1979, players only used it about 3.1 percent of the time. Last year, 25.9 percent of all shots were threes.

The game is becoming more and more about shooting and for Curry, that’s welcome news. In Sunday’s All-Star Game, the two teams attempted a combined 133 3-pointers, obliterating last year’s record of 100.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Nq13b7pn5c

The 48 converted 3-pointers destroyed the previous record of 30 as well. In a league where the 3-point line is being used more than ever, Curry is on a fast track to the MVP.

On Saturday, Curry won a loaded 3-point competition, scoring 27 of a possible 34 points.

He also has two of the top four perimeter shooting seasons ever, including No. 1 with 272 3-pointers made in the 2012-2013 season.

He is the only player in history to make 250 3-pointers and shoot better than 43 percent from long range in the same season, and is on his way to becoming the best shooter of all-time.

The Warriors are poised to take the top seed in the West and will face a formidable No. 8 seed in a deep Western Conference. The first round of the playoffs and the subsequent ones after won’t be a cakewalk.

Right now, Curry gets the edge in the MVP race, but he can’t let his No. 1- seeded Warriors team lose in the first round to whoever their challenging first-round matchup is.

Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks knows how painful it is to lose in upset fashion after winning the MVP. In the 2006-2007 season he took home the hardware but his team was shocked in the first round by a No. 8 seed.

That No.8-seed was the “We Believe” Warriors.

Tyler Scott is a junior marketing major and the editor of the Sports section.