5 reasons Kawhi Leonard will be the next NBA MVP
By Tom West
4. The Warriors won’t win 74 games
Besides the fact that Curry’s elevated play led the Warriors to new and historically great heights, his teammates stepping up — from Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala off the bench to Draymond Green’s triple-doubles — earned that 73-9 record. 72 was set by Michael Jordan and his deadly Chicago Bulls in 1995-96 and it was meant to be an unreachable mark, but the Warriors stunned the world to prove everyone wrong.
If there’s a level of team success that can catapult a player to an even higher chance of being crowned MVP, a 73-win season is the absolute pinnacle.
Yes, the mark of 72 was supposed to be unbeatable, but now 73 really does seem unbeatable. To sustain such dominance throughout a season, multiple factors have to go your way. Of course, the Warriors were easily the best team in the league and nothing can diminish that. Yet, without health and a few close games going your way, breaking that record can easily fall out of reach in an instant.
When you can only afford single-digit losses, and only eight in order to break the record now, everything has to go your way on top of the requirement of being more dominant than any other team in history.
It will be easy for the Warriors’ 2016-17 season to be less magical. Who knows whether they’ll sign Kevin Durant this summer or go for 70 wins again, but a slight regression below 70 is certainly understandable. And if that’s the case, taking more history and records away from Curry’s MVP case, the chance for another player like Kawhi Leonard to step forward only increases.
Because, as always, the Spurs are going to be contending again.
Next: 3. Leonard's offense has only just started taking off