San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Most watchable? It’s Curry
Stephen Curry won’t win the MVP Award this season. Those things are usually decided by this point in the season, or at least the field is narrowed to two or three, and Curry’s not on that short list.
He could still swoop in and win his third MVP, but Curry would have to dazzle down the stretch and the Warriors would have to return to form. Right now James Harden is the fave, and his MVP campaign has the enthusiastic endorsement of James Harden.
However, Curry will win an award that doesn’t exist, but should: Most Watchable Player. Pure entertainment value. The league is stocked with dazzling talent, but Curry is still the biggest deal.
LeBron James remains awesome, especially if you can see him in person, from expensive seats. Russell Westbrook rages on (when healthy), Harden’s try-andstop-me act is amazing, Giannis Antetokounmpo is as freakish as advertised.
But Curry, from pregame warm-ups to final buzzer, is the guy you gotta see. Who is the MWP in the other sports?
In baseball, I like to watch Mike Trout attack the game like it owes him money, but this one is easy. Baseball’s MWP is Shohei Ohtani. His rookie season was shortened by arm problems, but there’s a sense that this guy’s just getting warmed up. Please, Angels, give Ohtani fewer days off (the Angels rested him three days out of every five last year), let him Babe Ruth his way into our hearts.
Football? No debate needed here, either. The Chiefs ruined the NFL’s wild-card weekend by earning a bye and keeping Patrick Mahomes off TV. If he’s not in the Super Bowl next month, the football gods are off playing golf somewhere.
Speaking of golf, Tiger’s still the MWP there. Probably for the next 20 years. My hockey knowledge is light, but my expert advisers tell me Sidney Crosby is still the go-to guy for thrills. They also have a lot of love for Connor McDavid of the Oilers and 20-year-old Elias Pettersson of the Canucks. Pettersson is the only current pro athlete whose official bio mugshot is his seventh-grade school photo.
There are your MWPs. Watch for the big presentation ceremony some time during Super Bowl week. Or not.
Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: sostler@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @scottostler