Why Draymond Green is the MVP of the Warriors, not Stephen Curry

Jan 5, 2022; Dallas, Texas, USA; Golden State Warriors ahead Draymond Inexperienced (23) and Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson (13) in motion throughout the recreation between the Dallas Mavericks and the Golden State Warriors on the American Airways Middle, Why Draymond Inexperienced is the MVP of the Warriors, not Stephen Curry. Obligatory Credit score: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports activities

Relating to the Golden State Warriors, many NBA pundits, writers, and followers will paint the narrative that Stephen Curry is the heartbeat, and subsequently MVP of the franchise. I couldn’t disagree extra on this take.

It’s a shortsighted conclusion of equating the most effective participant on a staff with the MVP of mentioned staff. The 2 usually are not all the time synonymous with one another. Whereas Steph is the clear-cut primary possibility on the Dubs, its Draymond Inexperienced who carries extra worth.

Why Draymond Inexperienced is the MVP of the Warriors, not Stephen Curry

Folks will take a look at base numbers and the numerous accolades Curry has amassed to make this argument. Nevertheless, Inexperienced’s worth goes past the field rating. It’s the way in which he leads vocally and by instance, the flexibility on each ends of the ground. He’s a stat-sheet stuffer who performs his position to perfection night time in and night time out.

We received a transparent glimpse of Draymond’s value during his most recent absence, which was for over two months as a result of a foot/again damage, and boy was it evident!

With out the NBA DPOY frontrunner this season, Golden State was a close to .500 membership at an 18-16 file, struggling to know any type of momentum in a tricky Western Convention. With him within the lineup, they’re 29-7 – a large distinction. Some might say an MVP-caliber disparity.

Basically, they go from a transparent contender within the West to a file that may be extra suited to a play-in staff. Of their most up-to-date stretch with out the All-Star, the Warriors went 2-9 and had been giving up 118 factors an evening, making for the second-worst protection within the league.

Inexperienced paces the Warriors in rebounds (7.6), assists (7.4), blocks (1.2), and steals (1.4), for all you box-score and fundamental stat lovers. Couple that with a capability to protect all 5 positions, who wouldn’t miss that versatility?

Draymond is just enjoying at present averaging over seven assists whereas taking lower than 10 pictures a recreation – a mix of selflessness and sacrifice on his half. That is actually distinctive high-efficiency, low-volume expertise.

The 32-year-old ahead is also an incredible display screen setter, and people stellar screens give the Splash Brothers an incredible quantity of room to function. This helps immensely with the Warriors’ spacing and free-flowing offense.

Lastly, I need to share an excerpt from extremely touted Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, who believes Draymond Inexperienced deserves to be within the MVP dialog.

The news comes from Kurt Helin of NBC Sports,

“I don’t assume I’ve to qualify this by saying no disrespect to Steph or Rudy, however Draymond Inexperienced is as distinctive a participant and is having nearly as good of a yr. If you wish to put somebody within the MVP dialog, he’s somebody…”

“And then you definately add the management that he exhibits and the way in which he communicates, I simply assume he’s an unbelievable participant and I feel he’s displaying that this yr. He’s proven it earlier than, but it surely stands out a lot proper now whenever you watch them play.”

This isn’t to remove something from the physique of labor of Curry, who is mostly thought to be some of the influential gamers of all time and greatest shooter of all time. We simply can not proceed to discredit Inexperienced’s management on and off the court docket, the way in which he communicates defensively as an anchor, and the way in which he leads their high-level offense.