Sports Illustrated tabs Stephen Curry as the 2015 NBA Player of the Year
There can be only one Sportsperson, but there is still plenty of individual excellence to highlight across the landscape of sports. For the NBA, there is little question who was 2015's winner...
After leading Golden State to a franchise-record 67 wins and the franchise's first NBA championship in 40 years, 2014–15 MVP Steph Curry picked up this season right where he left off last June. As the Warriors were making headlines for winning their first 24 games, Curry was leading the league in scoring (32.3 points at week's end) and making threes at an unprecedented rate. His current pace—5.1 per game—is more than the Nets are hitting as a team (4.8).
For more in Stephen Curry's historic season, here are some Sports Illustrated excerpts from Lee Jenkins over the past year...
Going With The Flow (12.21.15)
"The Warriors won the championship last season, going 83–20, and they are making that version of themselves look like chumps. Point guard Steph Curry captured the MVP with four times as many first-place votes as anyone else, and he apparently wasn't even loose yet. Curry, now leading the league with 32.3 points per game and turning 35–footers into layups, might as well collect the trophy on Christmas Day." MORE
Sportsman case for Stephen Curry (11.30.15)
"Every so often the basketball gods open the door to the Zone. There is no telling who will be granted access and how long he will be allowed to stay. Great shooters can remain for a quarter, a half, even an entire game. The best ones may take up residence for a week. A few immortal marksmen have been known to move in for a month. Warriors point guard Steph Curry has lived in this exclusive fun house all year." MORE
Class Picture: Curry has it all (06.29.15)
"If James is a blunt weapon, Curry is a finely tuned instrument, maintained through meticulous routine. He walks to the court, pumping his arms like a drummer boy, with power forward David Lee. He ties his shoes on the same chair, shoots on the same rim and takes that last heave from the tunnel with the same security guard, Curtis Jones. He endures the obvious OCD jokes. "The routine gives me things I can count on," Curry explains. But the Finals steals comforts, replacing golf outings with travel days, forcing practices from familiar gyms to cavernous arenas. Fraser, who works with Curry more than any other Warriors coach, wondered how his carefully calibrated megastar would acclimate." MORE
Inside Warriors' celebration (06.17.15)
"The season of splash ended Wednesday at 2:18 a.m., on the loading dock at Quicken Loans Arena, 20 feet from the Warriors bus. Stephen Curry raised both arms, let out a triumphant roar, and in a fit of euphoria lost control of the Heineken in his right hand. He tried to catch the bottle, but it splattered against the cement, leaving a puddle of green shards and Dutch hops. A few of Curry’s teammates, waiting for him outside the bus, saw the final splash. They erupted in applause." MORE
Steph Curry's next stage (05.25.15)
"The Zone has been around as long as sports themselves, but the Curry Zone is bigger, hotter and more enduring than any before. He describes the first time he stepped inside that blast furnace, as an eighth-grader in Toronto, playing for a travel team called the 5–0. “I shot everywhere,” he says, “and I couldn’t miss.” MORE
For more from Lee Jenkins, click here.
Other SI Award Winners
• Sportsperson: Serena Williams
• MLB: Bryce Harper, Nationals
• College Basketball: Grayson Allen, Duke
• NFL: Tom Brady, Patriots
• College Football: Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
• Men's Tennis: Novak Djokovic
• NHL: Carey Price, Canadiens
• Golfer: Jordan Spieth
• Team of the Year: Golden State Warriors
• High School: Hunter Gandee, Bedford High
