Cavs' J.R. Smith: LeBron or Westbrook, not Curry, should have been MVP
Cleveland guard J.R. Smith said Stephen Curry would be in his top five for MVP
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1 min read
J.R. Smith said Thursday that his teammate LeBron James should have won Most Valuable Player, and he would vote for Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook if he was not allowed to choose a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who won the award unanimously for the first time in NBA history, would finish in Smith's top five:
From USA Today's Michael Singer:
"Other than LeBron, I don't really know who else to vote for," Smith said on Thursday ahead of Game 4. "I mean somebody who does everything for a team, whether it's scoring, getting stops, rebounds, steals, blocked shots. There's not more of a complete player, so I don't see how he couldn't be the most valuable."
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"If I couldn't vote for somebody on my own team I'd probably vote for a guy like Russ (Westbrook). I mean, he's energy, effort, consistently, got the total package. You gotta go for a guy like that."
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"Would [Curry] be in my Top-5? I mean, yeah, he's very valuable to the team, to what they do. If you take him out of the equation I think they're a totally different team, but I mean he would definitely be in there. Absolutely."
James himself said that Curry deserved the award but added that determining the league's best player is a different conversation, and his comments caused such a stir that he said he regretted them. It is a little weird that another Cavalier is now directly saying that Curry shouldn't have won.
When James is at his best, there is still no one like him. He is the best player of his generation, and the fact he's been to the NBA Finals seven straight times is incredible. Westbrook also had an amazing year, and he made triple-doubles look routine toward the end of the regular season. Curry, though, clearly had a better season than both of them. He led the league in scoring and shattered the record for 3-pointers made while leading the Warriors to 73 wins. That's why he got every vote for MVP and why it feels like a waste of time to even discuss other candidates ... but I guess Smith is entitled to his opinion.
