The fact that Steph Curry doesn’t have an NBA Finals MVP award has been well-documented.
Some see it as the only missing piece to a near-perfect legacy as one of the all-time greats, but to Curry, the only important thing about winning the Finals MVP trophy is the fact it likely also guarantees him a fourth championship.
"It would mean everything because it pretty much means you’re winning the series,” Curry said to ESPN’s Malika Andrews on Tuesday. “The smaller trophy isn’t the motivation at all. But you know what comes with winning the big one, and what it takes to do that. So I'm focused on that, the fact that I haven't had the opportunity and we haven’t had the opportunity to be here on this stage after the conversations over the last 2-3 years. That says a lot in and of itself.”
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Curry most notably didn’t win the Finals MVP in 2015, when the Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games despite averaging the most points and assists and playing the most minutes out of anyone on the team. The award instead went to Andre Iguodala.
In 2017 and 2018, Kevin Durant claimed both Finals MVP awards.
“You think about when Andre won, when KD won,” Curry said. “There’s just so much joy in that moment no matter what. … You want to be able to experience it.”
Golden State Warriors
Curry, playing in his sixth NBA Finals in eight years, finally seems to be on track to win the award should the Warriors beat the Boston Celtics. Curry led the Warriors in scoring in both games so far, with 34 points in Game 1 and 29 points in Game 2. Barring a spectacular performance over the rest of the series from any of his teammates, Curry might finally get that fleeting trophy if he can lead his team to the championship.
Related: Kerr: Steph 'breathtaking' during Warriors' third-quarter run
The more important task, though, is actually winning the series first. The Warriors already gave up home-court advantage by dropping Game 1 and will need to win a game in Boston.
Curry knows he’ll have to keep playing at a Finals MVP-pace for Golden State to get three more wins.
“I think the context of every series changes in terms of what it’s actually going to take to win it,” Curry said. “I think for us to win this championship, get three more wins and hold that Larry O’Brien Trophy, I’m going to have to keep playing the way that I am, and hold myself to that standard.”