Golden State Warriorsâ€
guard Stephen Curry has won the 2014-15 NBA Most Valuable Player Award, the league has confirmed.
The 6-3 guard, who set a single-season record for three-pointers made and led the leagueâ€
s best regular-season team in scoring, assists and steals, Â becomes the second Warriors player to win the award, joining Wilt Chamberlain, who was honoured in 1959-60.
Curry totaled 1,198 points, including 100 of 130 first-place votes, from a panel of 129 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, as well as the Kia MVP fan vote on NBA.com. Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five points for each third-place vote, three points for each fourth-place vote and one point for each fifth-place vote.
Rounding out the top five in the voting were the Houston Rocketsâ€
James Harden (936 points, 25 first-place votes), the Cleveland Cavaliersâ€
LeBron James (552 points, five first-place votes), the Oklahoma City Thunderâ€
s Russell Westbrook (352 points) and the New Orleans Pelicansâ€
Anthony Davis (203 points).
Curry helped the Warriors win a franchise-record 67 games by averaging 23.8 points (sixth in the NBA), 7.7 assists (sixth), a career-high 2.04 steals (fourth) and 4.3 rebounds. The 27-year-old Curry made 286 three-pointers, breaking his own NBA record of 272 set in 2012-13. He shot 48.7 percent from the field and ranked fourth in the league in three-point field goal percentage (44.3). Curry also led the NBA in free throw percentage (91.4), converting a career-high 52 consecutive free throws from March 9 to April 4.
With Curry leading the way, Golden State became the 10th team in NBA history to win at least 67 games in a season. The Warriors scored 920 more points than they allowed with Curry on the court, the highest plus/minus for any player this season and an average of 11.5 points in his 80 appearances.
Curryâ€
s consistency throughout the season mirrored that of the Warriors. He was named the Kia NBA Western Conference Player of the Month for October/November, when Golden State went 14-2 as part of a 21-2 start. Curry finished strong, too, shooting 51.7 percent (125-for-242) from three-point range after the All-Star break, when the Warriors went 25-6.
Curry receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honour of the NBAâ€
s first commissioner, who served from 1946 until his retirement in 1963.
2014-15 KIA NBA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD RESULTS
Player, Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Total Points
Stephen Curry, Golden State 100 26 3 — 1 1,198
James Harden, Houston 25 87 13 4 — 936
LeBron James, Cleveland 5 12 62 32 12 552
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City — 5 33 41 29 352
Anthony Davis, New Orleans — — 9 35 53 203
Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers — — 10 15 29 124
LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland — — — 1 3 6
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