Its not an NBA title or anything close, but Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry got a nice nod from NBA fans at ESPN’s ESPY Awards. He won the ESPY for Best NBA Player, despite his Warriors just missing the playoffs.
NBA fans took notice of Curry’s brilliant season, however. It was impossible to miss — before the campaign began, many NBA observers figured Curry would struggle without his backcourt mate, G Klay Thompson. In addition, forward Kevin Durant was a year removed from being a Warrior, making Curry’s job extra challenging. (Curry missed much of last season with injury, so he hadn’t played much without Durant.)
Curry passed every test, averaging 32 points per game for the Warriors (good for the NBA scoring title) and setting a bevy of personal and team benchmarks.
Here’s Curry thanking the fans for voting him best NBA player. He says he had fun expanding his game and also says that thanks to this season and his ESPY Award, he knows he’s “still got it.”
That part about expanding his game is interesting. He had to adjust mightily without Thompson or Durant by his side, and he seamlessly did so, playing nearly as well as he did during his unanimous NBA MVP season in 2016. The result was Curry as we’ve never quite seen him before, dominating the court without any fellow superstars on the perimeter.
Plus, Curry now clearly knows he is nowhere near the end of his prime playing days. It was a legit question before the season started, and Curry answered it definitively. At 33 years of age, he’s not slowing down, and the entire NBA wants to see what he and the Warriors can do next year with Thompson by his side after his return from injury.
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