Warriors’ Stephen Curry wins 2014-15 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award
NEW YORK – The Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, who set a single-season record for three-pointers made and led the league’s best regular-season team in scoring, assists and steals, has won the 2014-15 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award, the NBA announced today. The 6-3 guard becomes the second Warriors player to win the award, joining Wilt Chamberlain, who was honored in 1959-60 when the franchise played in Philadelphia.
Curry totaled 1,198 points, including 100 of 130 first-place votes, from a panel of 129 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, as well as the Kia MVP fan vote on NBA.com. Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five points for each third-place vote, three points for each fourth-place vote and one point for each fifth-place vote.
Rounding out the top five in the voting were the Houston Rockets’ James Harden (936 points, 25 first-place votes), the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (552 points, five first-place votes), the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook (352 points) and the New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis (203 points).
Curry helped the Warriors win a franchise-record 67 games by averaging 23.8 points (sixth in the NBA), 7.7 assists (sixth), a career-high 2.04 steals (fourth) and 4.3 rebounds. The 27-year-old Curry made 286 three-pointers, breaking his own NBA record of 272 set in 2012-13. He shot 48.7 percent from the field and ranked fourth in the league in three-point field goal percentage (44.3). Curry also led the NBA in free throw percentage (91.4), converting a career-high 52 consecutive free throws from March 9 to April 4.
With Curry leading the way, Golden State became the 10th team in NBA history to win at least 67 games in a season. The Warriors scored 920 more points than they allowed with Curry on the court, the highest plus/minus for any player this season and an average of 11.5 points in his 80 appearances.
Curry’s consistency throughout the season mirrored that of the Warriors. He was named the Kia NBA Western Conference Player of the Month for October/November, when Golden State went 14-2 as part of a 21-2 start. Curry finished strong, too, shooting 51.7 percent (125-for-242) from three-point range after the All-Star break, when the Warriors went 25-6.
Curry receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honor of the NBA’s first commissioner, who served from 1946 until his retirement in 1963.
For the sixth consecutive season, the NBA and Kia Motors America (KMA) gave fans the opportunity to submit votes for the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award by ranking their top five choices through a dedicated Web page on NBA.com. The fan vote counted as one vote toward determining the winner.
As part of its support of the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award, KMA will donate on behalf of Curry an all-new and more capable than ever 2016 Kia Sorento LX CUV to the East Oakland Youth Development Center, which develops the social and leadership capacities of youth and young adults. Kia Motors will present a Sorento to the charity of choice of each of five 2014-15 year-end award winners as part of the Kia NBA Performance Awards. After this season, Kia Motors will have donated a total of 38 new vehicles to charitable organizations since its support of the NBA’s prestigious honors began in 2008.
The 2014-15 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award is part of the Kia NBA Performance Awards, a series of on-court performance awards. The series, in its eighth season, is part of a multiyear marketing partnership between KM A and the NBA, and includes five of the league’s most prestigious year-end honors: Kia Most Valuable Player, Kia Defensive Player of the Year, Kia Sixth Man Award, Kia Most Improved Player and Kia Rookie of the Year. The series also includes the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month and the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month during the regular season. Kia Motors is the Official Automotive Partner of the NBA, and the Kia Optima is the league’s Official Vehicle. For more information, please visit www.kia.com/NBA.
For the second year in a row, complete media voting results for each NBA annual award will be posted on NBA.com/official after the announcement of each winner. Click here for those results.
Below are the voting results for the 2014-15 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award. The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.
2014-15 KIA NBA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD RESULTS
Player, Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Total Points
Stephen Curry, Golden State 100 26 3 — 1 1,198
James Harden, Houston 25 87 13 4 — 936
LeBron James, Cleveland 5 12 62 32 12 552
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City — 5 33 41 29 352
Anthony Davis, New Orleans — — 9 35 53 203
Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers — — 10 15 29 124
LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland — — — 1 3 6
Marc Gasol, Memphis — — — 1 — 3
Blake Griffin, L.A. Clippers — — — 1 — 3
Tim Duncan, San Antonio — — — — 1 1
Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio — — — — 1 1
Klay Thompson, Golden State — — — — 1 1
Below is the all-time list of winners:
ALL-TIME KIA NBA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD WINNERS
Season – Player, Team
1955-56 – Bob Pettit, St. Louis
1956-57 – Bob Cousy, Boston
1957-58 – Bill Russell, Boston
1958-59 – Bob Pettit, St. Louis
1959-60 – Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia
1960-61 – Bill Russell, Boston
1961-62 – Bill Russell, Boston
1962-63 – Bill Russell, Boston
1963-64 – Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati
1964-65 – Bill Russell, Boston
1965-66 – Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia
1966-67 – Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia
1967-68 – Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia
1968-69 – Wes Unseld, Baltimore
1969-70 – Willis Reed, New York
1970-71 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee
1971-72 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee
1972-73 – Dave Cowens, Boston
1973-74 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee
1974-75 – Bob McAdoo, Buffalo
1975-76 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles
1976-77 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles
1977-78 – Bill Walton, Portland
1978-79 – Moses Malone, Houston
1979-80 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles
1980-81 – Julius Erving, Philadelphia
1981-82 – Moses Malone, Houston
1982-83 – Moses Malone, Philadelphia
1983-84 – Larry Bird, Boston
1984-85 – Larry Bird, Boston
1985-86 – Larry Bird, Boston
1986-87 – Magic Johnson, L.A. Lakers
1987-88 – Michael Jordan, Chicago
1988-89 – Magic Johnson, L.A. Lakers
1989-90 – Magic Johnson, L.A. Lakers
1990-91 – Michael Jordan, Chicago
1991-92 – Michael Jordan, Chicago
1992-93 – Charles Barkley, Phoenix
1993-94 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston
1994-95 – David Robinson, San Antonio
1995-96 – Michael Jordan, Chicago
1996-97 – Karl Malone, Utah
1997-98 – Michael Jordan, Chicago
1998-99 – Karl Malone, Utah
1999-00 – Shaquille O’Neal, L.A. Lakers
2000-01 – Allen Iverson, Philadelphia
2001-02 – Tim Duncan, San Antonio
2002-03 – Tim Duncan, San Antonio
2003-04 – Kevin Garnett, Minnesota
2004-05 – Steve Nash, Phoenix
2005-06 – Steve Nash, Phoenix
2006-07 – Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas
2007-08 – Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers
2008-09 – LeBron James, Cleveland
2009-10 – LeBron James, Cleveland
2010-11 – Derrick Rose, Chicago
2011-12 – LeBron James, Miami
2012-13 – LeBron James, Miami
2013-14 – Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City
2014-15 – Stephen Curry, Golden State