Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry may not be the same electric talent he was five years ago, but he remains one of the best players in basketball.
You don’t have to look any further than his magnificent performance during the Olympics to see that.
However, due to the Warriors’ downfall and Curry’s subtle decline, the chances of the wily veteran winning an MVP award from this point forward seem slim.
But don’t tell that to Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz.
In a piece where Swartz rattles off a list of sleeper MVP candidates, Curry made the list in spite of having +3800 odds to win the award, which places him 11th among all NBA players.
“The Warriors finished 10th in the West last season, but they could be far better after some key offseason additions, resulting in a better chance for Curry to win MVP again,” wrote Swartz. “Golden State also had a net rating of plus-14.4 (98th percentile, via Cleaning the Glass) last season with Curry, Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga all on the court and Klay Thompson out.”
Of course, Thompson bolted via free agency, signing with the Dallas Mavericks. But he is clearly not the same player anymore, and Golden State may actually benefit from his departure.
The Warriors added interesting pieces like De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield, and if Green can just stay on the floor, the Dubs could ultimately make the playoffs next season.
The question is whether or not Curry has enough juice left in the tank to shoulder such a heavy load for the Warriors once again.
The 36-year-old sharpshooter has accumulated a lot of mileage from six NBA Finals appearances and a lot of regular-season minutes.
Curry has also been a bit injured in recent years, although he did play in 74 games last season.
We know how dominant Curry can be. During the 2023-24 campaign, Heck averaged 26.4 points per game on 45.0/40.8/92.3 shooting splits. But Curry averaged just .142 win shares per 48 minutes, representing his lowest mark since his second year in the league in 2010-11 (excluding the 2019-20 season when he played in just five contests).
Curry is getting older, and he can’t quite create as much separation from defenders as he once could.
The four-time champion already has a pair of MVP awards under his belt, so it’s not like Stephen Curry needs another. But it would be a heck of a thing if he really did make a serious run at a third.
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