Steph Curry fell out of the NBA MVP race long ago when an uncharacteristic shooting slump sent him into the permafrost, and the Warriors star watched Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Joel Embiid pull away from the pack.
In fairness, Curry's stats aren't "MVP worthy" because the MVP award doesn't reward value. Not value in the truest sense, at least. It rewards the player with the best statistical season on a team that makes the playoffs. That team is preferably a championship contender, save for Russell Westbrook in 2017.
So, no, Curry who, if you take out the lost 2019-20 season, is posting career lows in field goal percentage and 3-point percentage while averaging his fewest points since the 2016-17 season, isn't "MVP worthy."
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But what's becoming clear with each putrid performance the Warriors deliver while Curry is out with a sprained ligament in his left foot, is that in the purest sense of the word, Curry is the league's "most valuable" player to his team.
Following Monday night's 123-95 drubbing at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies, the Warriors now are 3-9 without Curry this season and 5-16 without him over the past two seasons.
Golden State is 45-19 with Curry on the floor, good for a 58-win pace that likely would be good enough for the No. 2 seed in the West. That 3-9 mark is good for a 20-win pace which would tie the Warriors with the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets for worst in the NBA.
Of course, most teams struggle when their best players go down. The Phoenix Suns (11-4 without Chris Paul) and Memphis Grizzlies (18-2 without Ja Morant) are the exceptions, not the rule.
Golden State Warriors
But there's a difference between struggling and being downright abysmal.
The Warriors have a net rating of 7.6 this season when Curry is on the floor. That number would be good for second in the NBA behind the Suns at 8.5. Without Curry, the Warriors' net rating is -- cover your eyes -- minus-7.1, which would rank 25th just in front of the tanking Oklahoma City Thunder.
Both the Warriors' offensive rating (113.7) and defensive rating (106.1) with Curry would rank in the top five. The defensive rating without Curry is a staggering 117.0, that would rank dead last in the NBA this season. Their offensive rating without Curry (109.9) would rank 21st, just behind the Washington Wizards.
The Warriors' field-goal percentage (47 percent), 3-point percentage (36.2), and true shooting percentage (58.3) are two points better with Curry on the floor than when he is off. That's the difference between being in the top five in the league and hovering somewhere between 17th and 24th.
With Curry on the floor, the Warriors are top five in field goal percentage and true shooting and top 10 in 3-point percentage. Without him, they would rank 24th in field goal percentage, 24th in 3-point percentage, and 19th in true shooting.
Curry is literally the difference between the Warriors having one of the best offenses in the NBA and being borderline inept.
His gravitational pull opens up the floor for everyone else and allows the Warriors' free-flowing ball movement offense to operate as intended -- with vicious effectiveness.
With Curry in street clothes, the Warriors look like a boxer trying to blow up his muscles before a prizefight. They lack power and scare no one.
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Yes, the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets struggle mightily when Embiid and Jokic aren't on the floor. What Jokic has done this season without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. has been incredible and similar to the show Curry put on last season when he drug the Warriors to the play-in tournament with little help. He'd get my MVP vote.
Embiid has been unstoppable and likely will take home the hardware this season. Antetokounmpo has been his steady, sensational self and has equal claim to the award.
They have all had better seasons than Curry. No doubt.
But each time the Warriors amble onto the court without Curry and get dumptrucked, his value is evident.
Curry is the Warriors' system. With him, they are among the NBA's deadliest teams. Without him, they are rudderless and fail to measure up to the opponents they view as their championship competitors. It's not even close.
Steph Curry is the difference between championship contention and ping-pong ball cheering, banner hunting and lottery luck. That's the very definition of "most valuable."