Stephen Curry wins record setting NBA MVP

Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry has been named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the 2015/2016 season, becoming the first player in league history to win the award unanimously.

Much of the talk leading into Tuesday’s MVP announcement was not whether Curry would win, that was a certainty, but whether he would write his name in the history books with the first unanimous victory. The stellar season the guard has enjoyed suggested it was likely, but devil’s advocates argued that perhaps there were other players who were more “valuable” to their teams.

Aside from that counterpunch to at least make the MVP race interesting, it was almost a forgone conclusion that Stephen Curry would win without dropping a vote. LeBron James had gone the closest with just one vote stopping him from a unanimous MVP award three years ago, but Curry surpassed the achievement and stands as the league’s best player.

In the process he became just the 11th player in NBA history to win the MVP on two consecutive occasions, while also becoming the first guard since Steve Nash’s double in 2004/2005 and 2005/2006. The vote was cast between 130 media voters across the United States and Canada, with Curry claiming 1,310 votes to best Kawhi Leonard of San Antonio, LeBron James of Cleveland and Oklahoma City team-mates Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

The MVP win for Curry also meant something for the Warriors, as he became only the second player from the franchise to win the award, following Wilt Chamberlain (1959/1960). Steph becomes the first in franchise history to secure two MVP awards, and it comes at a fitting time when he is driving the Warriors to become an all-time franchise.

Under Curry’s blistering scoring, the Golden State franchise secured its first NBA championship in 40 years last season, and this year the team broke an NBA record by picking up 73 Regular Season wins. It is tough to bet against the Warriors collection consecutive championships, and Curry showed how important he was by draining a record 17 overtime points to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 132-125 to lead 3-1 in the Western Conference semis.