![]() ![]() He led the league in scoring, steals and free-throw percentage. Otherwise, there is little shame in losing to James.ĭuring that regular season, Curry averaged 30.1 points (66.9 TS%), 6.7 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.3 steals/blocks in 34.2 minutes per game. Golden State failed to defend its title that season, letting a 3-1 Finals lead evaporate as Curry battled knee problems, Green earned a costly Game 5 suspension and Harrison Barnes could not hit the broad side of an actual barn. There is no doubt Curry peaked during the 2015-16 season, when he defended his first MVP honor to become the NBA’s only unanimous selection and led the Warriors to a record-setting 73 wins, including 24 in a row to start the season. Curry may well match him in the end, but West gets the nod for now. And he did it at a high level for nearly twice as long. Obviously, West would have liked to match Curry’s three rings in his nine trips to the Finals, but statistically speaking he produced comparable numbers (especially considering how much Curry’s scoring efficiency benefits from the 3-point line) while also rating as an elite defender. West’s Lakers career coincided with Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and Gail Goodrich in addition to five-time All-Star Rudy LaRusso and several other contemporary and former All-Stars. West averaged 29.8 points (54.0 TS%), 6.5 assists and 5.4 rebounds in 41.8 minutes over 140 playoff games in his prime. He is the only player ever to earn Finals MVP honors for the losing team, winning the award in 1969, when he averaged a 38-5-7 on 49 percent shooting in a seven-game loss to Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics (who accounted for six of West’s Finals losses). ![]() The Lakers never missed the playoffs with West on the roster, making nine Finals in his 12-year prime and winning just once in 1972. He never won regular-season MVP honors, but he finished top six on nine occasions, including four runner-up finishes between 19. West made an All-NBA team in each of his 12 prime seasons. He made an All-Defensive team in each of his previous five seasons, the first handful of years the league began announcing them. The NBA did not record steals and blocks until his final season, when he averaged 3.3 in 31.2 minutes over 31 games before succumbing to injury. Jerry West (Yahoo Sports graphic)įrom 1961-73, West averaged 28.2 points (55.7 true shooting percentage), 6.9 assists and 5.6 rebounds in 39.9 minutes per game. He remained a productive star for a contender until 1972-73, his penultimate campaign, before a groin injury and a contract dispute in his age35 season ended his career a year before he would have liked. West logged similar averages as a rookie after the Los Angeles Lakers drafted him second overall behind Oscar Robertson, but his scoring nearly doubled in his second season. He won back-to-back rings after the Warriors added fellow MVP Kevin Durant and before losing to Kawhi Leonard’s Toronto Raptors in the 2019 Finals once Durant and Thompson succumbed to season-ending surgeries. From 2012-19, Curry averaged 26.5 points (60.9 TS%), 6.3 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals/blocks in 37.8 minutes over 112 playoff games.Ĭurry won his first title playing alongside perennial All-Stars Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in a rotation that also included former All-Stars Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bogut and David Lee. They played in five straight Finals, winning three championships and losing a legendary 2016 series to LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers in Golden State’s 73-win season. The Warriors have made the playoffs each season of his prime, except for this injury-plagued one. Curry won back-to-back MVPs in 20, including the first unanimous selection, and finished top six in voting three more times. His string of six straight All-NBA selections will be snapped this year because of the hand injury. From 2012 to the present, Curry has averaged 25.6 points (63.3 true shooting percentage!), 6.9 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.9 combined blocks and steals in 34.5 minutes per game. ![]()
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