ESPN NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy says that Stephen Curry has been the most valuable player in the league over the past decade. Is he right? What about LeBron James? What about Kevin Durant?
“You can make the case to me, year in & year out… you could make a strong case he’s been the most valuable player in the league over the past decade,” said Van Gundy. “You could make a strong case he’s been the most valuable player in the league over the past decade.”
Jeff Van Gundy on Steph Curry:
“You could make a strong case he's been the most valuable player in the league over the past decade”
(via Lowe Post podcast, h/t @Baltej_hoops) pic.twitter.com/acFmgbxUbX
— Guru (@DrGuru_) January 18, 2023
Steph Curry Is Best NBA Player Of Last Decade
News flash, Stephen Curry is elite at basketball, and he’s accomplished some pretty amazing things over the last decade. Let’s dive in.
From the 2013-14 season through the present season, here’s what Curry has accomplished: Four NBA titles, Finals MVP, two league MVPs, eight All-Star appearances, All-Star Game MVP, eight-time All-NBA, two-time scoring champ, steals leader, 50-40-90 club.
That’s pretty impressive. As they should be. The last 10 seasons have been Curry’s age 25-34 seasons. His prime. There’s also the 2019-20 season that he essentially missed, playing only five games.
Let’s look at Durant’s last 10 seasons. Also, his age 25-34 seasons. He only played 27 games in 2014-15 due to a Jones fracture and missed the entire 2019-20 season with the Achilles injury. Two-time champion, Two-time Finals MVP, league MVP, eight All-Star appearances (four more the previous decade), All-Star game MVP, six-time All-NBA (four more All-NBA selections in the previous), and one scoring title (won three straight in the previous decade).
Now let’s look at LeBron James. His age 29-38 seasons. The back end of his prime into his late prime. Two-time NBA champion, two-time Finals MVP. He won all four of his league MVPs in the previous decade. Nine-time All-Star, All-Star Game MVP (won two more the previous decade), nine-time All-NBA (nine more All-NBA selections the previous decade), league assists leader.
That’s an awful lot of hardware for the games three most important figures of the past decade.
Curry Gets Edge Over Kevin Durant And LeBron James
Curry gets the slightest edge over both, as he was in his prime, unlike Bron, and unlike Durant only had one injured season. Curry’s teams also won more.
The case for Curry being MVP of the decade is a strong one as Van Gundy said. But we’re really splitting hairs, which is what you do when you’re talking about some of the greatest players of all time. In LeBron’s case, perhaps the greatest. Insofar as deciphering that is possible.
Each of these players has left an indelible mark on the game and you cannot tell the history of the league without them.
As it stands now, Bron is on the verge of becoming the league’s all-time leading scorer. He is the only player in NBA history to amass at least 38,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, and 10,000 assists. But his Lakers are not going to be in the hunt for a title this season.
For Durant, he continues to be the game’s most feared offensive weapon post-Achilles. Prior to his MCL injury earlier this month he was an MVP candidate, and the Nets were among the top teams in the league. They’ve struggled a bit in his absence (0-3) but if they can somehow hold on until he’s back they’ll be a serious threat come the postseason.
As for Curry, he missed some time this season with a shoulder injury, and the Warriors are a .500 team with an awful road record. Their starting five still remains among the best in the league in net rating, but they will need to address their bench if they hope to repeat as champions.
