Stephen Curry named first ever unanimous NBA MVP

Not only did Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry win the 2015-16 NBA MVP award, but he did so as the first unanimous winner in history.

While this certainly should have been the case, it wouldn’t have been too surprising to see one stubborn voter choose someone else with their 1st place vote. Stephen Curry has got what he deserved, though, and after being crowned as the 2015-16 NBA MVP as expected, he also became the first player to ever win the award by unanimous decision.

Well, unless you’re still trying hard to be a Golden State Warriors hater, there’s no way Curry shouldn’t have won by unanimous decision.

In case you want reminding, here are the numbers he put together:

League-highs (and career-highs) of 30.1 points, 5.1 made threes (402 total), and 2.1 steals per game, with 6.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds, too. As for his shooting splits, he shot 50.4 percent overall, 45.4 percent from three, and a league-best 90.8 percent from the free throw line. All together, that resulted in a ridiculous PER of 31.5.

Oh, and on top of that, he was the best player on the first team to ever win 73 games.

To avoid rambling out about his remarkable talent and unprecedented range and shot creation, let’s leave it there and look at the rest of the votes.

ESPN’s Rachel Nichols has relayed the rest of the voting, which is pretty much what we were expecting. Kawhi Leonard was a likely pick for 2nd place given the San Antonio Spurs’ success and defensive dominance, while it was easy to choose between a mixture of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul for the following positions.

Also, Draymond Green’s votes are noteworthy, with his remarkable playmaking improvement this season earning him a couple of 2nd place votes.

Whoever thought James Harden’s dismal defensive effort and leadership was worth a 3rd place vote, well, who knows why they thought he should finish above the other elite stars who led the voting.

For shattering his own already-absurd records and doing so with incredible efficiency while leading his team to an all-time best 73 wins, there’s no doubt Stephen Curry’s 2015-16 campaign will be regarded as one of the best MVP seasons in NBA history.

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