Curry vs Lebron : MVP debate

[Donoghus]

This what the struggle always is with this award.  IMO, Lebron James is still the best player in the league, Lebron James is the most critical player to his teams success of any player in the league, and yet I have no problem with Stephen Curry winning the MVP this year.

So to recap, I think the best player is Lebron James, I think the player that is the most valuable to his team is Lebron James, and yet if I had a vote I would have voted Stephen Curry the MVP this season.

Pretty much the same boat.

If you guys believe this, then what basis do you pick Curry? Curious.

My gut more than anything, to be honest.

Curry played basketball at the highest level of anyone playing basketball this season.  He also played on the best team which helps matters and he was the most important part of said team.  I think Lebron means more to his team (due to supporting cast) and I would take LBJ over Curry with a gun to my head but I think Curry was the best player in the NBA this year. 

When people look back at the '15-16 season, Curry & the Warriors will be the first thing that comes to mind.  Either by putting together the greatest regular season ever (record wise) and winning their 2nd consecutive title or by putting together the greatest regular season ever &, shockingly, not winning the title. 

Either way, they're front & center.

If that makes sense.

The "special " meaning of breaking the regular season win record will be washed away if the warriors can't win the championships

Alot to ask from one team but that's the way it is.

Sure.  They'll be the "what if" factor if they don't finish the job.  Ask the '07 Pats about that.

But it won't be forgotten.  That's my point.

[PhoSita]

If I'm building a team from scratch, Curry is my first pick.

If I had to win a game seven, home or road, and I can pick any guy in the league at his best to lead the way, Curry is my first pick.

I would select Lebron in both of these scenarios.

Welp, to the extent anybody can be wrong in such subjective things, you're wrong. 

In all seriousness, I understand why people might choose Lebron.  But I just think the reasons for that are dead wrong.  Curry is the Master of the NBA Universe right now.  He's the Unanimous MVP and that's right.

[Moranis]

This what the struggle always is with this award.  IMO, Lebron James is still the best player in the league, Lebron James is the most critical player to his teams success of any player in the league, and yet I have no problem with Stephen Curry winning the MVP this year.

So to recap, I think the best player is Lebron James, I think the player that is the most valuable to his team is Lebron James, and yet if I had a vote I would have voted Stephen Curry the MVP this season.

Pretty much the same boat.

If you guys believe this, then what basis do you pick Curry? Curious.

My gut more than anything, to be honest.

Curry played basketball at the highest level of anyone playing basketball this season.  He also played on the best team which helps matters and he was the most important part of said team.  I think Lebron means more to his team (due to supporting cast) and I would take LBJ over Curry with a gun to my head but I think Curry was the best player in the NBA this year. 

When people look back at the '15-16 season, Curry & the Warriors will be the first thing that comes to mind.  Either by putting together the greatest regular season ever (record wise) and winning their 2nd consecutive title or by putting together the greatest regular season ever &, shockingly, not winning the title. 

Either way, they're front & center.

If that makes sense.

I would vote for Curry because I think he had the best overall season, which is what I think the MVP award is supposed to be about.  It isn't the best player or Jordan would have won basically every year in the 90's and James would be something like the 10 time defending MVP.  Guys like Nash and Rose would have never won the award.  Even guys like Dirk are a stretch.  But if you look at it as the best season, then it makes a lot more sense why the best player or even the most valuable player didn't win. 

[Donoghus]

This what the struggle always is with this award.  IMO, Lebron James is still the best player in the league, Lebron James is the most critical player to his teams success of any player in the league, and yet I have no problem with Stephen Curry winning the MVP this year.

So to recap, I think the best player is Lebron James, I think the player that is the most valuable to his team is Lebron James, and yet if I had a vote I would have voted Stephen Curry the MVP this season.

Pretty much the same boat.

If you guys believe this, then what basis do you pick Curry? Curious.

My gut more than anything, to be honest.

Curry played basketball at the highest level of anyone playing basketball this season.  He also played on the best team which helps matters and he was the most important part of said team.  I think Lebron means more to his team (due to supporting cast) and I would take LBJ over Curry with a gun to my head but I think Curry was the best player in the NBA this year. 

When people look back at the '15-16 season, Curry & the Warriors will be the first thing that comes to mind.  Either by putting together the greatest regular season ever (record wise) and winning their 2nd consecutive title or by putting together the greatest regular season ever &, shockingly, not winning the title. 

Either way, they're front & center.

If that makes sense.

The "special " meaning of breaking the regular season win record will be washed away if the warriors can't win the championships

Alot to ask from one team but that's the way it is.

You may be right, but I'm not sure. Do people outside of New England still remember the 2007 Patriots as special?

Not special. But they're remembered.  Mostly for how they went out more than anything but they're still talked about.

How much discussion is there about the teams that immediately preceded them or immediately followed them as Super Bowl loser?  Zilch.

That's my point with Golden State now.   Either way, its going to be a story that's remembered at this point. 

Anyways, that's starting to drift from the original topic so I'll digress.

[PhoSita]

The 2007 Super Bowl will always be the one the Pats lost rather than the one the Giants won.

If the Warriors lose this year, it'll be that way, except perhaps if the Spurs best them, in which case it'll be a story about timeless greatness overcoming an incredible season.

Anyway, MVP is a regular season award, and Curry was the author, albeit with help from Dray, Klay, Iggy, and others, of the greatest regular season in NBA history.

Yes, Curry had a great team around him.  But he willed them far beyond what they should have won.  There were nights they simply were not going to lose.  That night in Oklahoma City is maybe the best example.

This is Curry's league right now.

[PhoSita]

I'm curious how anybody can think Bron is even the best individual player.  At least in terms of the regular season, his stats were nice but Curry blew everyone away.

If you're thinking playoffs, fine, but it's hard to judge anything so far since once again Bron has yet to be challenged in any way through two rounds.

Does Bron even have any really amazing individual performances this year? His team beat the Spurs twice, so that is the calling card of their season.

James had a number of games with 30ish points and a ton of peripheral stats.  But I can't think of a time when he simply eviscerated a team by himself, or when he carried his team against a tough opponent, when they won because he would not let them lose.

None of that's surprising.  Bron doesn't play for the regular season anymore.

[SHAQATTACK]

LeBron makes better Pizzas

[Tr1boy]

The 2007 Super Bowl will always be the one the Pats lost rather than the one the Giants won.

If the Warriors lose this year, it'll be that way, except perhaps if the Spurs best them, in which case it'll be a story about timeless greatness overcoming an incredible season.

Anyway, MVP is a regular season award, and Curry was the author, albeit with help from Dray, Klay, Iggy, and others, of the greatest regular season in NBA history.

Yes, Curry had a great team around him.  But he willed them far beyond what they should have won.  There were nights they simply were not going to lose.  That night in Oklahoma City is maybe the best example.

This is Curry's league right now.

I disagree.  Not his league yet. If GSW repeat bc of him, I will be the 1st one to admit

There is alot of firepower that will come his way soon.  Aldridge, Leonard Spurs,    RW, Durant okc,     Lebron Cavs

He can be a key player and now down these teams , it's his league (getting a step closer to Jordan level). If not, well..

[celticsclay]

The Most Valuable Player. The player with the most skill, who contributes the most to their team. Used mainly in sports and video games

.

I see someone who is a MVP of a team,  where if they missed a long stretch of games the team would suffer.

If GSW lost Curry and we have seen this happen right before our eyes, the GSW still keep on trucking .   (maybe they don't win yesterday, up for debate)

But if the Cavs lost Lebron, well we have seen what happens also. Team is just mediocre.  Atl prob takes the Cavs to 7 or wins

Maybe there should be two diff type of awards. MVP where without you the team is in shambles and another for the best offensive player in the league

Umm the Warriors already lost a game to a completely imploding Rockets team and to Portland without Curry. They probably should have lost game 2 when they were trailing by 10 points in the 4th. They are still a good team without Curry, but definitely not trucking along. Conversely the Cavs still beat Detroit (perhaps in 5 much like the warriors first round) without Lebron and probably need an extra game or two against Atlanta.

Edit: Lets also not forget that without injuries, the Warriors would be playing the clippers right now. I am pretty confident they would have been down at least 2-1 without Curry against that team healthy.

[CelticSooner]

If the award were about the guy who made the biggest difference in regular season win total depending on whether he played or not, the award probably goes to James Harden.  Do the Rockets win twenty games without him?

Harden is a talented player.  But that's obviously not what the MVP award is about.  It's about the most dangerous player in the game.  The guy who is the focal point whenever he steps on the floor.  The guy who defines the league.  The guy everybody knows you've gotta beat to win the title, and if somebody else beat him before you and you win, you got lucky.  Plain and simple.

This year, and last year, that's Curry.

Lebron is still a great player.  He's the King of the East.  Looks like he will be for a while.  But he is no longer capable of reaching the level of overwhelming destruction that Curry has reached on a regular basis this year.  We saw it in overtime last night.  Curry is playing in the ether right now, an Outer Realm known only by a select few, and then only for a limited time.  Bron was there once, but I'm not sure he ever did it like this.  Maybe only one other ever has.

LeBron has been surpassed by Curry. When I watch Curry I feel like am watching a true skilled basketball player. When I watch LeBron I'm not in awe because the majority of his game is based on supreme genetics. He'll never be a good shooter and the fact he never got hurt makes me suspicious.

[loco_91]

I take Curry. He put up a .669TS% this year, which must be the best ever mark for a PG. His ability to hit shots from >5 feet behind the 3pt line forces bigs to help on super-high PnR's, and that's a large part of why everyone else on that team has looked so good this year. Don't get me wrong, Lebron makes other guys on his team look good too. But Curry had a historically dominant season, you have to give him the nod.

#2 is really close between Lebron and Kawhi, you could make an argument for either. I would have taken KD easily over RWB, though. Westbrook is amazing and one of my favorite players to watch, but he's such a mixed bag with his shot selection at times.

[Who]

LeBron coasts too much during the season these days to win another MVP.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Yeah, I don't see any debate between who was better this year (or the previous one for that matter) between Curry and LeBron.

Curry has been hands down the best player on the floor these two consecutive seasons. Curry's seasons have been incredibly special.

So no, no debate.

Curry MVP easily, there's no way to rationalize against it.

[pearljammer10]

Curry:

Led the league in scoring
Led the league in steals
Shot 50/45/90
Was 3rd in rebounds-per-game for guards
Was the #1 option on the winningest regular-season team ever
Just showed why he's a difference-maker last night

I think he deserved the MVP, and that's without looking at any advanced stats.

These points all sum it up for me as well.

[Big333223]

Curry was my MVP. It's really hard to argue for someone else.

That said, I'm kind of disappointed that this was the first unanimous MVP in league history. No Jordan season? No Bird season? No Lebron season? Curry was incredible and would've gotten my vote but Kawhi Leonard was the DPOY and led his team in scoring and that team won 67 games. He couldn't get a single 1st place vote? James had another ho-hum 25-7-7 season shooting 52% from the floor and not one journalist thinks James barrelling to the rim is more valuable than Curry pulling up?

This is going to wind up being a trivia question not many people get, I think.