Who Won the 2016 NBA MVP Award and How Did They Achieve This Honor?

I still remember the excitement surrounding the 2016 NBA MVP race—it was one of those seasons where the award felt genuinely up for grabs until the very end. As someone who's followed basketball for over two decades, both as a fan and an analyst, I've always found MVP discussions fascinating because they reveal so much about what we value in players. That year, the conversation largely centered around Stephen Curry's historic season with the Golden State Warriors, and honestly, watching him play felt like witnessing basketball evolution in real time. The numbers alone were staggering—Curry became the first unanimous MVP in NBA history, capturing all 131 first-place votes, which tells you something about how dominant his performance was perceived across the board.

What made Curry's 2016 MVP season particularly remarkable wasn't just the unanimous selection—it was how he redefined offensive efficiency while leading his team to a record-breaking 73-9 regular season. I've always believed that MVP awards should go to players who elevate their teams in meaningful ways, and Curry absolutely embodied that. He averaged 30.1 points per game while shooting 50.4% from the field, 45.4% from three-point range, and 90.8% from the free-throw line, joining the elusive 50-40-90 club while simultaneously being the league's scoring champion. Those numbers still boggle my mind when I think about them—the degree of difficulty on his shots, the defensive attention he commanded every single night, and yet he maintained that incredible efficiency throughout the season.

The context of that season makes Curry's achievement even more impressive when you consider the competition. We had phenomenal seasons from Kawhi Leonard, who finished second in voting, and LeBron James, who was his typically brilliant self. But Curry's impact was just different—he wasn't just putting up numbers, he was fundamentally changing how defenses had to approach the game. I remember watching Warriors games and seeing how opponents would pick him up at half-court, something rarely done before in regular season games. His gravitational pull on defenses created opportunities for everyone else on the court in ways we hadn't really seen before.

Now, this is where I want to bring in an interesting perspective that relates to team performance and potential. You mentioned that reference about coaches admitting their teams didn't play to their full potential—that actually makes me think about how Curry's Warriors that season represented the absolute peak of what a team could achieve in the regular season. While other teams might have struggled with consistency or effort, the Warriors under Curry's leadership maintained an incredible focus night after night. Their 73 wins didn't come by accident—it came from a collective commitment to excellence that started with their best player.

What often gets overlooked in MVP discussions is the leadership component, and this is where Curry truly shone. Having watched countless post-game interviews and behind-the-scenes content from that season, it was clear that Curry's work ethic set the tone for the entire organization. Teammates consistently talked about how his pre-game routines—arriving hours before anyone else, going through meticulous shooting drills—inspired them to raise their own standards. This kind of cultural impact is something stats don't fully capture but matters tremendously when we're talking about most valuable players.

The evolution of Curry's game that season was particularly fascinating to me as someone who analyzes player development. He didn't just improve incrementally—he made a quantum leap in his effectiveness despite defenses being entirely focused on stopping him. His usage rate increased to 32.6% while his true shooting percentage reached an absurd 66.9%, which is just unheard of for a primary ball-handler and scorer. I've always been skeptical of players who need high usage rates to be effective, but Curry demonstrated that efficiency and volume aren't mutually exclusive when you have transcendent skill.

What made the 2016 MVP race particularly interesting from my perspective was how it reflected changing values in basketball analytics. The traditional stats were impressive enough—Curry averaged 6.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game alongside his scoring numbers—but the advanced metrics painted an even more compelling picture. His player efficiency rating (PER) of 31.5 was one of the highest in NBA history, and his value over replacement player (VORP) of 9.8 indicated just how much better the Warriors were with him on the court. As someone who believes in blending traditional observation with modern analytics, Curry's 2016 season was like the perfect storm that validated both approaches.

I should mention that not everyone agreed with the unanimous selection at the time—I remember heated debates about whether other players might have deserved at least some first-place votes. But having re-watched numerous games from that season recently, I'm more convinced than ever that the voters got it right. The combination of individual excellence, team success, and historical significance made this one of the most deserved MVP awards in recent memory. Even now, several years later, I find myself using Curry's 2016 season as a benchmark when evaluating other MVP candidates.

The legacy of that MVP season continues to influence how we view player value today. Curry demonstrated that you could be the most valuable player without necessarily being the most physically dominant—that skill, intelligence, and transformative impact could outweigh traditional measures of basketball prowess. As the game continues to evolve toward more spacing and three-point shooting, we're essentially watching the league catch up to what Curry was doing back in 2016. It's rare that an MVP season doesn't just recognize excellence but actually points toward basketball's future direction, and that's exactly what made Curry's 2016 campaign so special to witness.

Looking back, what strikes me most about Curry's unanimous MVP season is how it represented the culmination of several trends—the three-point revolution, the emphasis on efficiency, the value of skill over pure athleticism. While other great players have since put together phenomenal seasons, there's something about the 2016 campaign that still feels unique in its combination of statistical dominance and aesthetic beauty. The way Curry played basketball that year wasn't just effective—it was joyful, innovative, and fundamentally changed how the game is played at every level. And really, that's what the most valuable player should represent—not just who had the best numbers, but who moved the game forward in the most significant way.