At long last, Steph Curry has a Finals MVP award. Box checked. Narrative dead. Right?
Okay, maybe not THAT Finals MVP award, but nevertheless Curry has another special piece of hardware.
Shortly after the Warriors punched their ticket to their sixth NBA Finals in the last eight seasons with a series-clinching Game 5 win over the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals, Curry was awarded the first-ever Western Conference finals MVP award, named after Los Angeles Lakers legend and NBA Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson.
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The award was introduced this year, which makes Curry the first-ever recipient. In the Eastern Conference, the award is named after Boston Celtics forward and NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird, which will be awarded to either a Heat or Celtics player in the coming days.
After the game, Curry discussed his and the Warriors' championship mindset, and how their standard of excellence has resulted in personal success along the way.
"That's not hard, that's a daily standard that you hold yourself to," Curry told reporters after the game. "The fact that everything is about putting yourself in a position to win and the personal accolades and stats and all that comes with it. Again, the way that we all gel and play as a team, it all works, because that's the only intention. So there's nothing hard about maintaining that as a focus and that being the motivation for me."
Golden State Warriors
Even though it's not the Finals MVP award that has famously evaded Curry throughout each of the three Warriors championship runs, it's still a very high honor that means a lot to him.
"The new trophy is pretty cool, especially with who it's named after, the standard that Magic set in terms of being a champion and playing a point guard position and whatever else position he played," Curry said. "Just the excellence he demonstrated throughout his entire career. Definitely special, I appreciate the way the teammates celebrated with me. And like I said, that acknowledgment, six out of eight (Finals appearances) and the ability to play in another Finals, what else could you want? I'm excited about another opportunity to go get one."
After Curry was named the recipient of the award, Magic himself congratulated Curry on Twitter.
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With the Warriors just four wins away from hoisting yet another Larry O'Brien Trophy, there's a decent chance that the Magic Johnson Award won't be the last Finals MVP award Steph takes home this summer.