For the first time in the history of the league, the NBA MVP was unanimously crowned, and it is none other than Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
The 28-year-old point guard earned the NBA's top individual accolade for the second straight season, being the 11th player in history to win the league's MVP trophy in consecutive seasons. Curry received 1,310 points from 130 media voters across the United States and Canada, the maximum number of points possible with all first-place votes being cast for him.
In second place in MVP voting was Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs, followed by LeBron James from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder duo Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.
In the regular season, Curry recorded per-game averages of 30.1 points, 6.7 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals. He led the league in scoring and steals, while shooting 50.4 percent from the field, 45.4 percent from three-point range and 90.8 percent on free throws. Curry also set the NBA record of most three-pointers in a regular season with 402, shattering the record he set last year of 286.
LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal came close to being declared unanimous MVPs in 2013 and 2000, respectively, but came up one first-place vote short. Other sports leagues in the United States have had unanimous MVPs, with Tom Brady in the NFL back in 2010 and Wayne Gretzky in the NHL back in 1982 also earning the achievement. For the MLB though, there has been 18 unanimous MVPs, with Bryce Harper for the NL last year being the latest.
Curry now holds the distinction of being the only unanimous MVP of the NBA, after leading the Warriors to a historic 73-9 regular season record. Of course, the road does not end here, as the team is looking to accomplish the ultimate goal of defending the NBA championship in the ongoing NBA Playoffs.
The Warriors were seemingly in trouble after Curry sprained his right knee in the Game 4 of its first-round series with the Houston Rockets. After being shelved for 15 days, a number that was thought by many would be much higher, Curry came off the bench for Game 4 of the team's second-round series with the Portland Trailblazers.
Curry set another record by scoring 17 points in the overtime period, the most by any player in the history of the NBA, to finish with 40 points and lead the Warriors to a 132-125 win. The team is now up 3-1 against the Blazers, as they look to close the series out in their home court for Game 5.
Fittingly, Curry was announced as the NBA's 2016 MVP a day after.
Not everybody is impressed by Curry's achievement though, as former All Star guard Tracy McGrady said Curry's proclamation as the unanimous NBA MVP revealed how watered down the league has become.
"Think about when MJ [Michael Jordan] played, Shaq [Shaquille O'Neal]. I mean, those guys really played against top-notch competition," said McGrady while appearing on The Jump of ESPN.
McGrady, however, praised Curry afterwards, stating that his winning of the award is well-deserved as he has been rewriting the record book so far this season.
