Stephen Curry deserved to be the NBA's Most Valuable Player this year. Just look at the voting numbers: he was the first unanimous MVP in NBA history. One would argue there was not much room for interpretation; I mean, literally every single reporter voted for him. J.R. Smith, however, has his own point of view.
Yesterday, Smith told reporters if he had a vote this year for MVP, he would have given it to teammate LeBron James or, if not LeBron, uhhhh...Russell Westbrook.
“Other than LeBron, I don’t really know who else to vote for,” Smith said. "I mean somebody who does everything for a team, whether it’s scoring, getting stops, rebounds, steals, blocked shots. There’s not more of a complete player, so I don’t see how he couldn’t be the most valuable.”
James finished third in the MVP voting (behind Curry and the Spurs' Kawhi Leonard), and Westbrook finished fourth.
“If I couldn’t vote for somebody on my own team I’d probably vote for a guy like Russ (Westbrook)," Smith said. "I mean, he’s energy, effort, consistently, got the total package. You gotta go for a guy like that.”
Don't worry, though: Smith said he would put the first unanimous MVP in NBA history in his top five.
“Would he be in my Top-5? I mean, yeah, he’s very valuable to the team, to what they do," he said. "If you take him out of the equation I think they’re a totally different team, but I mean he would definitely be in there. Absolutely."
This is a tired debate by now. LeBron James is objectively the world's best all-around player, but Curry just put together one of the most remarkable offensive seasons in NBA history. It's possible for someone to be the league's best all-around player and not be that season's MVP.
Game Four of the NBA Finals tips off tonight at 9 p.m.
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