After rest, 3rd MVP a real possibility
Late in the Warriors’ Dec. 4 win over New Orleans, when Stephen Curry sprained his right ankle lunging for a steal, many pondered worst-case scenarios.
What if Curry wouldn’t be himself when he returned? Half a decade earlier, he was a promising 24-year-old playmaker who was so prone to ankle sprains that some wondered whether he’d stay on the court long enough to realize his potential.
Now, more than five weeks after coming back from that sprained ankle he sustained against the Pelicans, Curry has assuaged concerns about his health. With the All-Star break near, he is playing significantly better than he did before the injury. A steady stream of workhorse perfor-
mances has vaulted Curry into the MVP discussion.
Through Sunday, he led the NBA in three-pointers per game (4.3) and ranked third in scoring (27.5 ppg), seventh in free-throw percentage (91.1) and 12th in assists per game (6.4). Entering Tuesday night’s game against Oklahoma City and fellow MVP candidate Russell Westbrook, Curry’s true shooting percentage — a stat that combines his shooting on two-pointers, threepointers and free throws — is a league-high 67.3.
Considered the best threepoint shooter in NBA history, his mere presence warrants enough defensive attention to free up space for his All-Star teammates.Curry’s offensive rating of 120.1 leads the league. At the root of his MVP candidacy is the fact that, with Golden State sitting at 41-12, he is the best player on the NBA’s best team.
“There are different stages in a player’s career: There’s the climb, there’s the apex, and there’s the descent,” head coach Steve Kerr said of Curry, who won his first MVP award in 2015 before becoming the first unanimous MVP in league history a year later. “I feel that this is his apex: nothing to prove, top of your game, feeling great.”
After playing deep into June three consecutive years, Curry opened this season not as sharp as normal. He forgot plays out of timeouts, piled up silly reach-in fouls and airballed at least a half-dozen jumpers in the first six weeks. Before spraining his ankle in New Orleans, Curry’s threepoint-shooting clip of 38.1 percent was on pace to be his career worst.
Three weeks off to rehab gave Curry a much-appreciated break, both mentally and physically. In his first game back, against Memphis, he needed only 17 shots and 26 minutes to score 38 points. In the 15 games since his return, he has averaged 29.3 points on 52.2 percent shooting from the field and 47.2 percent from three-point range.
“We didn’t know it at the time, but that sprained ankle ended up being a good thing,” said Golden State player-development coach Bruce Fraser, who has worked closely with Curry on his shot the past 3½ seasons. “He’s as good at this point of the season as I’ve seen him.”
Unlike last season, when the MVP was a two-man race between Westbrook and Houston’s James Harden, the MVP discussion features a crowd of players jockeying for position.
Harden, who averages 31.2 points and 9.1 assists per game for the Western Conference’s second-best team, has been seen as the front-runner much of the season. However, a slew of franchise cornerstones — Westbrook, Boston’s Kyrie Irving, Cleveland’s LeBron
“I feel that this is his apex: nothing to prove, top of your game, feeling great.” Steve Kerr, Warriors head coach, on Stephen Curry
James, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and, of course, Curry — aren’t far behind.
Hurting Curry’s candidacy is the reality that he shares a team with Kevin Durant, who still has a dark-horse chance at MVP. Voters who value Durant’s two-way dominance — more than halfway through the season, he is poised to make his first All-Defensive team — might be more apt to give the nod to him over Curry.
It also doesn’t help Curry that he has missed 15 of the Warriors’ 53 games. Though those are hardly enough absences to eliminate him from contention, voters might lean toward someone who has played more games as a tiebreaker in a close race.
“It’s something that is obviously very special,” Curry said of potentially winning a third career MVP award. “To be a part of that fraternity, at the end of my career, I’ll definitely be appreciative of it.
“But when you have a situation where you go through a season and play at a high level and just stay in the moment, you’re not really focusing on that.” Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Con_Chron