Sixers: Joel Embiid’s final spot on 2021 MVP ladder

NBA MVP candidate #3: Stephen Curry

This season should quiet any doubts about Stephen Curry’s place in the pantheon of all-time greats. He is one of the most deadly offensive weapons the NBA has ever seen. With or without the ball, Curry can make a defense implode. He demands such constant attention, and that attention has been ratcheted up tenfold this season in the absence of Klay Thompson.

Despite a somewhat ragtag group of poor shooters and unproven players, Curry has Golden State in the eighth seed with a record six games over .500 — a truly remarkable accomplishment for a team boasting Andrew Wiggins as the No. 2 scorer. The Warriors were legitimately good this season, and few — if any — players bear more responsibility for their team’s success than Curry. That is, by definition, most valuable.

If the Warriors weren’t so far down in the standings, Curry would have a real case to be top-two. Perhaps even the top. He posted season averages of 32.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.2 steals on .482/.421/.916 shooting splits. This was a top-shelf season from one of the 10 or so greatest players to ever touch a basketball. He cannot fall outside the top three.

Curry has blended volume and shooting efficiency in a way no other player, much less a ball-handling guard, could remotely fathom. He is doing things entirely unique to him, that have never been done and may never be done again. Curry deserves all the respect.