Kurtenbach: Steph Curry’s NBA Finals MVP was more than a decade in the
making
Steph Curry NBA Finals MVP: There was no other worthy choice for the
award after Curry delivered one of the finest performances in his career
to lead the Warriors to beat the Celtics in six games.
>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) leaves the court with the MVP trophy after their 103-90 win over
the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win the NBA Finals at TD Garden in
Boston, Mass., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News
Group)
>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) leaves the court with the MVP trophy after their 103-90 win over
the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win the NBA Finals at TD Garden in
Boston, Mass., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News
Group)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: June 16, 2022 at 8:42 p.m. | UPDATED: June 17, 2022 at 4:00 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/06/16/kurtenbach-steph-currys-nba-finals-mvp-was-more-than-a-decade-in-the-making/

BOSTON — The trophy case is now complete.

Stephen Curry’s legacy as the greatest shooter of all-time and one of
the greatest players in the history of the NBA was never in question.

He’s a two-time NBA MVP and the only unanimous winner of the award. He’s
won NBA All-Star Game MVP, the league’s Player of the Week award 18
times, and Player of the Month nine times. He’s been All-NBA eight times.

The man revolutionized the sport for the better.

And he had all of the awards commensurate with such a status. Well, almost.

There was one NBA award that was missing.

He has it now.

Curry was named the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP after leading the
Warriors to their fourth title in eight years Thursday night in Boston.

The vote was, again, unanimous.

>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) lifts up the MVP trophy as they Golden State Warriors celebrate
winning the NBA Championship at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Thursday,
June 16, 2022. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics
103-90. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

It’s fitting that the award named for Russell, the greatest Bay
Area-raised player ever (McClymonds High, University of San Francisco)
and who won 11 titles in Boston, was given to Curry, the man now
synonymous with basketball in our region after delivering not just
respectability to a once doormat franchise, but four titles as well.

History will shine upon Curry’s 2022 Finals as perhaps the finest moment
of his incredible career. He averaged 31 points, five assists, and shot
31-of-71 (43 percent) from beyond the arc. He was sharp defensively,
too, averaging six rebounds and two steals a game.

But while it is technically only one recognition for one incredible
Finals, the award felt larger than that — like a lifetime achievement
award for a player who has left an indelible mark on the sport and led
one of the greatest dynasties in not just in the history of the NBA, but
American professional sports.

While there were championship-level contributions from his teammates,
the NBA Finals MVP award could only go to one man — oftentimes the
smallest man on the court.

>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) lifts up the MVP trophy as he heads to the locker room after
winning the NBA Championship at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Thursday,
June 16, 2022. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics
103-90. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Curry became the first non-wing to win the award in 15 years and only
the fourth point guard to win it since 1990, when Isiah Thomas won for
the Detroit Pistons. Chauncey Billups won in 2004 and Tony Parker in 2007.

Even as Curry revolutionized the game with his long-distance shooting,
the do-it-all wings were the stars of the Finals. Their length and
ability to score at all three levels proved in the wide-open modern game
that tightens up with the title on the line.

Curry adding a lethal mid-range game — he shot 59 percent from inside
the 3-point arc and outside the key in the first five games of the
series — to his already elite inside-out scoring ability made him
downright unguardable in the postseason and Finals, even for the NBA’s
best defense this season.

Curry, of course, didn’t need the Finals MVP to validate his career, but
that doesn’t mean it’s not a sweet success for the Warriors’ guard.

“It would mean everything because that means you’re winning the series,”
Curry told ESPN last week. “No matter who wins it, there’s so much joy
in that moment, you want to be able to experience it. And I think the
context of every series changes in terms of what it’s gonna take to
actually win, and I think for us to win this championship, get three
more wins, and hold that Larry O’Brien trophy, I’m going to have to keep
playing the way I am.”

>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green
(23) hugs Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) after Curry received
the MVP trophy, next to Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson (11),
following their 103-90 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win the
NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Thursday, June 16, 2022.
(Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

At age 34, what’s left for Curry to do now that he’s picked up this
piece of long-sought-after hardware?

More titles, of course, on the court. What makes you think he or the
Warriors are going to start declining anytime soon?

More business success off the court, too.

And perhaps Curry will chase a trophy that the NBA can’t provide:

Curry has gold medals for representing the United States in the 2010
World Championships and 2014 World Cup, but he has never played in the
Olympics.

I hear Paris is lovely in the summer. What better use could there be of
a few weeks in August 2024?

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>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) leaves the court with the MVP trophy following their 103-90 win
over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win the NBA Finals at TD Garden in
Boston, Mass., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News
Group)