Programming note: Watch the Warriors' final preseason game tonight at 7:30pm on NBC Sports Bay Area.
Steph Curry won the MVP in 2015.
Steph Curry won the MVP in 2016.
During the 2017 NBA Finals, he averaged 26.8 points, 9.4 assists, 8.0 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game.
"I think Steph is at his absolute peak right now -- physically, emotionally," Steve Kerr declared after practice on Thursday. "This is probably as good as he's ever gonna be. I think he's better now than he was last year or the year before. And that's saying something.
"He is the most impactful offensive player, in terms of what he does to the defense, maybe ever. There's guys, obviously Michael Jordan impacted things, but the way Steph plays puts the fear of God into defenses like nobocy I've ever seen. Nobody has been able to shoot off the dribble from 35 feet in a normal setting. But he does that, which changes the entire game. So everything we do revolves around Steph."
Shortly after the Warriors won the title, Steve Kerr said that Kevin Durant, not Curry, is the second best player in the NBA.
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At the championship parade in June, Kerr singled out every player on the roster... except Curry.
Many people on "Warriors Twitter" think that Curry is underappreciated and underrated.
"You can talk about where he stands in terms of the best players in the league. He's obviously one of the best, by that standard he's the best," Kerr explained. "If you want to just say ‘who affects the game the most offensively?' Steph is the best player in the NBA. But there's different ways of measuring that stuff. From a two-way standpoint, if you like the two-way guys, maybe it's Kawhi Leonard or KD or LeBron because they're bigger or stronger and can protect the rim.
"Steph is an excellent defender though. He does not get the credit he deserves. There's a lot of guys in the playoffs who are great one-way guys. Steph, he's a two-way player. He gets his hands on passes, he deflects the ball, and all you have to do is just look at the impact he makes every time he's on the floor for us to know that everything we do, everything we run offensively, the other guy's ability to make plays -- Shaun, Andre, Draymond -- it all starts with Steph's gravity."
[REWIND: Kerr's message to Warriors fans who want more pick-and-roll for Curry]
"And then what's amazing about Steph, what continues to add to all that, is his personal character, his unselfishness and the way he approaches the game. His usage rate is maybe 30th in the league. I don't know exactly. He could easily be like, ‘why don't I have the ball? I'm the best offensive player in the history of the game?' We could run high screen every time.
"But he understands the power of the group. He understands that Shaun and Andre and and Draymond and Zaza and David are all great passers and as a group collectively, we are a better team when everybody sharing. And that's what makes Steph amazing.
"I've said it many times -- he reminds me so much of Tim Duncan in that he's got this incredible package of skill, arrogance and humility. It's a weird combination but it makes sense and the result is this powerful force that drives our entire organization."
Curry finished sixth in the MVP race last year and did not receive a single first-place or second-place vote.
It's possible that he never wins another MVP again.
But it probably wouldn't be wise to bet against Curry.
Drew Shiller is the co-host of Warriors Outsiders and a Web Producer at NBC Sports Bay Area. Follow him on Twitter @DrewShiller
