Steph Curry won the regular season NBA MVP Award. Curry was the best player on the best team — the Golden State Warriors had the best record all season. And with his 37-point Game 4, replete with late game heroics, Curry is making a case for Finals MVP too. The Warriors went up 3-2 against the personnel-depleted Cavaliers, one win away from the title. If the Warriors win, Curry will almost surely be named the MVP of the Finals, despite the important roles played — on offense and defense — by Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and other Warriors contributors. Curry is the most important, and valuable, player on the Warriors team — whether he’s scoring 18 points or 37.
[Magic Johnson Elevates Klay Thompson]
But the Finals MVP is supposed to go to the most valuable player in the Finals. And the most valuable player to his team in this NBA Finals is inarguably LeBron James, who has borne solo for Cleveland what a trio of Warriors have done for Golden State. (James had 40 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in Game 4, continuing his herculean Finals output.) Unless they rename the award Finals MVP For Winning Team, James’ value should make him a lock for the award. Not that James cares — he only cares about winning. And he still very well might. But if the Cavs don’t win the title, the same might be said for the Finals MVP as JR Smith said about the regular season MVP: LeBron should be MVP every time.
