National Basketball Association

Why Stephen Curry is the NBA's MVP

Published Apr. 2, 2015 7:31 p.m. ET

Jovan Buha

No one is hotter than Stephen Curry right now.

From being name-dropped in one of the most popular rap songs in the past year, to having his first signature shoe release, to breaking the Internet with a slew of crossovers and step-back 3-pointers, to leading his Golden State Warriors to a historic regular-season record, the 2014-15 season has belonged to Curry.

Which is why, despite impressive campaigns from James Harden, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James, among others, Curry is the clear-cut choice for MVP this season.

I mean, who else can do stuff like this?

Las Vegas emphatically agrees, and for good reason. The best player on the best team traditionally wins the MVP award, especially when a team is as dominant as the Warriors have been this season (61-13 record, +10.8 point differential). That's the main reason for the 27-year-old to get the award. Which is fine. But there is a strong argument for Curry as the game's best player this season as well.

Curry's statistical resume speaks for itself.

Among the all-encompassing stats that attempt to account for a player's overall value and production, Curry is at the top of the list. He's first in Real Plus-Minus, second in WAR (behind Harden), first in Win Shares per 48 minutes, second in Win Shares (behind Harden) and third in PER (behind Anthony Davis and Westbrook). No other player is in the top seven of both offensive and defensive win shares.

In more traditional stats, Curry leads the NBA in steals, 3-pointers (made and attempted) and free throw-percentage. He's second in points, third in field-goals made, fourth in assists, and third in true shooting percentage.

Overall, he's averaging 23.7 points, 7.8 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals in just 32.1 minutes (his lowest since 2012). What's more impressive is that Curry is flirting with the 50-40-90 club, shooting 48.3 percent from the field, 43.4 percent on 3-pointers, and 91.8 percent from the free-throw line. Curry's game and statistical output mirror Steve Nash's, and some have even gone as far as to say he's already better than the recently retired point guard.

Simply put, no player forces defenses into tougher decisions than Curry. Combine his elite ball-handling and court vision with his world-class shooting off the catch or dribble and he's the game's most dangerous offensive force.

He is a threat to get a high-percentage shot off from anywhere within 30 feet of the basket, and must be accounted for at all times. He's the best off-the-dribble shooter the league has ever seen, and if he's not the game's best shooter overall, he's pretty close.

When Curry runs a pick-and-roll, the defense has to pick between trapping/blitzing him (effectively creating a 4-on-3 opportunity for the Warriors once Curry gets rid of the ball) or dropping back, which gives Curry the millisecond he needs to fire off an open trey.

There is no right answer when choosing how to defend him — both options are a death knell for even the stoutest defenses.

In terms of criticism, the biggest knock on Curry has been his defense, where his frail frame and lack of elite athleticism suggests weakness or deficiency as a defender.

While that may have been the case in the past, Curry has shored up his effectiveness on that end, and has actually become a plus-defender (if only slightly). His long arms, quick feet and high basketball IQ make him a legitimate threat for steals (he leads the league) and for disrupting smaller guards, and coach Steve Kerr no longer has to hide Curry on an opponent's worst offensive wing.

The Warriors' defensive rating actually drops from 96.5 to 99.6 when Curry sits. There is a lot of noise in surrounding those numbers: Curry plays a lot of his minutes with good defenders Andrew Bogut, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. But it demonstrates Curry's ability to be a net-neutral, at worst, on that end.

There is a misconception that the Warriors are this loaded offensive juggernaut -- they are certainly the deepest team in the league, but their roster isn't as top-heavy as most of the other contenders. But a majority of their talent is on the defensive end (i.e. Bogut, Green, Andre Iguodala, Thompson), which makes sense, given the team's league-leading defense.

So how can they be so good offensively?

Outside of Curry, only Thompson and Speights are above-average shot-creators. Thompson, for all his offensive growth this season, is still most effective when his teammates are screening and creating shots for him — he's not going to create as much for himself as the typical second banana. Speights is a backup, and his shooting and decision-making fluctuate game to game. The rest of the cast is made up of passers, finishers or average shooters. The Dubs have a lot of skill offensively, but not a ton of firepower.

Curry makes everyone around him that much more of a threat. Defenses pay so much attention to him that it creates open looks from deep and at the rim when scrambling defenses are forced to shift and rotate after Curry bends them with his gravitational pull. Every Warriors rotation player shoots markedly better with Curry on the floor.

Golden State's offense falls from a 113.8 offensive rating (the best mark in the league) to 100.8 without him (the equivalent of the Denver Nuggets' 23rd-ranked figure). That's a substantial decline.

There's just no weakness in his MVP argument this season — Curry's not only been the best player this season, but he's also leading a historically great regular-season team.

LeBron James' two-week sabbatical and the Cavaliers' early-season struggles eliminates him; Westbrook has only been a candidate post-All-Star break; and the Pelicans have been too inconsistent for Anthony Davis to merit any legitimate consideration.

The only player with a chance at snatching the MVP from Curry's grip is Harden. But the main pro-Harden argument — that he's dragged the Rockets' limited supporting cast into a top-three seed — is a flawed narrative.

On paper, if you took Curry and Harden off their respective teams, the Warriors would be the deeper and better squad. In theory, Harden is more important to the Rockets than Curry is to the Warriors. But that's not the case, at least statistically.

Curry's Warriors actually do worse with him off the floor (-16.3 points per 100 possessions) than when Harden sits on the Rockets (-10.3 points per 100 possessions). The offensive drop-off is roughly the same for both players (-13 points per 100 possessions for Curry, and -14 points per 100 possessions for Harden), but the difference comes on the defensive end — the Warriors' defense drops three points per 100 possessions without Curry, while the Rockets' defense improves by four points per 100 possessions with Harden on the pine.

The Rockets might have less overall talent, but Curry means more to the Warriors' success, and the Warriors are considerably better than the Rockets. Curry is slightly better than Harden offensively, and noticeably better defensively. Curry is simply more valuable.

This is a historically rare year in which several candidates could lay claim to the MVP . . . if it were any other year. Curry is the clear choice this season, and there isn't much left to debate.

Curry has not only been as effective as anyone, but his team — which is far more dependent on him than most realize — is arguably the best regular-season ball club since the 1995-96 Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. Thanks to Curry, the Warriors are second in offensive efficiency (they trail the Clippers by 0.3 points per 100 possessions), first in defensive efficiency (by over 2.0 points per 100 possessions), and are first in pace. For a team to finish in the top two of all three categories is unprecedented.

The Warriors are truly amazing this season — far better than the Rockets, Cavs or Thunder in the regular season. You just have to award the guy on a team that is going to win 66-plus games, especially when he has been this individually dominant.

Steph Curry is the MVP, and no one else has a shot, boy.

Stats used in this post are updated as of April 2nd, and are from NBA.com/Stats, Basketball-Reference.com, and ESPN.com.

Follow Jovan on Twitter at @jovanbuha.