The only unanimous MVP winner in NBA history is Steph Curry, who achieved the feat in 2016. Curry led the Golden State Warriors to a record 73 wins, but they failed to take home the championship.
Curry led the league in scoring that season, averaging 30.1 points per game. He made 402 3-point shots, which remains the most 3-point shots made in a season. He also put up 5.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.1 steals, while also joining the 50-40-90 club.
It was almost the perfect season for the Warriors, but they lost Game 7 of the NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers and blew a 3-1 series lead.
3-Time NBA Champ Questions Curry’s Unanimous MVP Win
On the latest episode of the No Fouls Given podcast, three-time NBA champion Danny Green wasn’t sure about Curry winning the 2016 MVP unanimously. Green has nothing bad to say about the greatest shooter ever, but he was baffled that no other player received a single first-place vote that season.
“Nobody else could have got a vote that year?” Green asked.
Co-host Wosny Lambre argued that it was the season Curry changed basketball, but Green is still not convinced that at least one voter thought otherwise.
“It’s the first guy ever,” Green replied. “We couldn’t get nobody else a vote? A LeBron James couldn’t get a vote?”
The former player clarified that Curry did deserve to win MVP that season, but his point was not one first-place vote for players like LeBron or Kawhi Leonard.
“He deserved MVP,” Green added. “I’m not saying he didn’t, but you couldn’t get 98. You couldn’t just give the n***a two votes for one other person. … In 2016, LeBron was f**king crazy. He couldn’t have 95 votes, spread out five other votes to somebody else.”
As a last-ditch argument, Green brought up Wilt Chamberlain, who dominated the league and never won a unanimous MVP.
Who Were The MVP Finalists in 2016?
According to Basketball Reference, Curry received all 131 first-place votes to become the first and only unanimous MVP in 2016. But who were the finalists that season?
Kawhi Leonard, who was still playing for the San Antonio Spurs at that point, came in second. He averaged 21.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.
The Spurs won 67 games that season, and Leonard just became the face of the franchise. He didn’t win MVP, but he took home the Defensive Player of the Year.
LeBron came in third, followed by Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, who were still teammates on the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant eventually left Westbrook and the Thunder that same offseason to form a superteam with the Warriors.
Other players who received MVP votes that season were Chris Paul, Draymond Green, Damian Lillard, James Harden and Kyle Lowry.
3-Time NBA Champion Questions Steph Curry’s Unanimous MVP Win