Stephen Curry has won back-to-back NBA MVP awards but has looked nothing like his elite self in 2016-17, and it’s hurting the Golden State Warriors.
Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors currently sit atop of the Western Conference, even without Kevin Durant, but that is largely not off of his back.
At first glance, his stats are really good. You see Curry averaging 25 points, six assists and four rebounds per game, and it passes the eye test. Good numbers. They may not be Top 5 NBA MVP numbers but still awfully fine.
However, the problem lies with his drastic drop in efficiency this season.
https://twitter.com/ByNickGonzalez/status/845060805217435649
As you can see in the chart in the above (attached tweet), EVERYTHING in his efficiency (and some key advanced stats) are down from his two previous (MVP) seasons.
Some by large margins too. His Win Shares per 48 is down over a whole .100, that’s drastic. Curry’s shooting, which is the No. 1 attribute to his game, is what seems to be down the most too. Down about six percent each in all of the above categories, that’s big margins.
https://twitter.com/ByNickGonzalez/status/845061603045314561
Curry has also struggled drastically when fellow MVP Kevin Durant isn’t in the lineup. If you look again at the above-attached tweet and image, his post-2017 All-Star Game stats are even worse from what we have been expecting from him the last three seasons.
This is also without a doubt his worse season since 2012-13, where Steph wasn’t even an All-Star. That is a long ways ago considering LeBron was still in South Beach then.
https://twitter.com/ByNickGonzalez/status/845065111597432832
Steph Curry has also been even worse against the what would be considered “Top 5 NBA teams” not named the Warriors. Curry obviously had some part in the victories against these latter teams, but as the efficiency shows us he has not been the most vital aspect.
The numbers above are all jaw-droppingly low, especially for him, and especially when Boston’s, the Cavs’ and Houston’s defense are considered horrible.
Steph Curry is definitely still one of the best in the NBA, and still probably an All-NBA player, but to say he is at the top of his game this season is very wrong.
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This has been his worst season since 2012-13. No matter how you look at it, Curry needs to elevate his game, for the sake of the Golden State Warriors