Warriors' Stephen Curry wins the first Magic Johnson Western Conference finals MVP award

Stephen Curry has won the first Magic Johnson Western Conference finals MVP award. Curry helped lead the Golden State Warriors to a 4-1 series victory over the Dallas Mavericks by averaging 23.4 points and 7.4 assists for the series. The Warriors closed out the series on their home floor Thursday with a 120-110 win.

Stephen Curry is presented with the FIRST Earvin "Magic" Johnson Trophy awarded to the Western Conference Finals MVP! #NBA75

The victory sent Golden State back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2019, capping a three-year rebuild in which the Warriors reloaded following the departure of Kevin Durant in free agency. Their first season without him was marred with injuries as the Warriors finished with the worst record in the NBA. Last season was better, but Golden State couldn't even escape the play-in round. But now, with a healthy roster and the lessons of two lottery seasons learned, the Warriors are headed back to the mountaintop behind Curry.

There's something especially special about this award going to Curry considering his history in the Finals. He is a three-time NBA champion, but has infamously failed to win the Finals MVP award. He lost out to Andre Iguodala in 2015 and then Durant in 2017 and 2018, and when the titles were flowing, it seemed inevitable that Curry would eventually get the chance to be recognized individually for his greatness. Once the Warriors fell out of the playoffs without Curry, that inevitability turned into the possibility that he might never win an individual postseason trophy. Now, at last, that has been rectified.

Of course, there are still two major trophies left to be awarded. Curry is focused on the one he's already won three times. The Warriors will face either the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, and with home-court advantage, Golden State figures to be an early favorite. If the Warriors do manage to win championship No. 4, Curry will be in the running for that elusive Finals MVP award as well. Whether he wins it or not, any lingering doubts about his ability to lead the Warriors back to the Finals without Durant have now been erased. The guard that has dominated the past decade of Western Conference history has now fittingly won its first Conference finals MVP award.

Comments

Bill Russell Once Explained Why He Didn't Bother With Celtics Fans: "When I Was A Star, The Fans Called Us The 'Boston Globetrotters' Because The Celtics Had Black Players."

While the NBA is a beacon for freedom and tolerance in America, things didn't start off that way. In a place like Boston, during the 50s and 60s, racial tension was a pretty serious problem, and superstar big man Bill Russell had to deal with it on a game-to-game basis. Today, it can be hard for us to imagine just how difficult being a black basketball player really was back then. Fortunately, we have some clips: "The number one paper was the Boston Herald and they didn't like the idea of an NBA team having black players. Out there, the star was Bob Cousy. No matter what I did, Cousy was the star. I remember I had a game where I had 25 points, 25 rebounds, 10 blocks, and the Boston Herald said I was lucky to play with Cousy." Unfortunately, the media didn't give Russell his respect back then. Despite being the best player on the court, and on his team, Cousy and others always got the spotlight. Even the fans weren't very accepting of Bill: "I didn't...

From Deep: At long last, Nikola Jokic's Nuggets can envision getting to the top of the mountain

Jamal Murray tore his ACL on April 12, 2021. Leading up to that night, he'd been playing at an All-NBA level for two months: In a 25-game stretch, Murray averaged 24.1 points on .509/.459/.935 shooting splits, 4.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists. He was even more efficient than he was in the bubble playoffs, and his defense had improved, too. Murray only got to play with Aaron Gordon, the Denver Nuggets' big trade-deadline addition, for five games. They won them all except the one in which Murray got injured. In 110 minutes, their new starting five scored slightly more efficiently than any iteration of the Kevin Durant-era death lineup in Golden State and defended like a top-five team. Two Nikola Jokic MVP awards later, Murray is back. So is Michael Porter Jr., who signed a five-year extension about a year ago and needed back surgery nine games into the 2020-21 season. The Nuggets remember how easily everything slid into place with Gordon in the mix. Newcomer Kentavious Caldwell-Pop...

Sixers' James Harden backs teammate Joel Embiid for MVP: 'He deserves it, man'

James Harden has been a member of the Philadelphia 76ers for less than two months, but that's been more than enough time for him to appreciate the brilliance of Joel Embiid. The duo is expected to help the Sixers compete for a championship, but Harden believes another trophy should be on its way to Philly this year. In an interview with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, Harden backed Embiid for MVP, saying "he deserves it, man." "I've only been here for a few weeks, but I already see his mindset," Harden said. "He wants to win. Some guys just want numbers, but he has both. He has the mentality of winning, and he scores the ball at a high level. I think he's prepared himself, especially coming off last year, for this year to be one of his best years." This has indeed been one of Embiid's best years. He's averaging a career-high 29.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.4 blocks while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 35.8 percent f...

Crossover World

Search This Blog