Got my comeuppance for a mistake on my last blog, misusing the term begging the question when I should have written raising the question. I taught rhetoric for years and should have known better. No excuse for sloppy writing. Thanks Mike C.
Read in The Athletic this morning Draymond Green's reasons why Steph Curry should be MVP this 2021 NBA season. I am in complete agreement with Draymond. Both of us acknowledge that Nikola Jokic is deserving and worthy, but what Curry has done this year translates beyond basketball.
On the basketball end of things, both men in my mind are tied over the importance to their teams. Warriors and Nuggets would collapse without their stars. Individual performances are about different strokes, each player excelling in their special ways, Curry's magical threes and dribble drives and sheer ballhandling magic; Jokic with his improbable over-the-head threes that arc into the sky before dropping, moistened by rain clouds, into the net, and his bruising muscle shots in the paint, and deft passing to cutters from the high post. The only difference between the two seems to be team standings, the Nuggets in the thick of battle for the Western Conference title, while the Warriors remain a wild longshot to get beyond the first round of the playoffs. However, let's not forget the Warriors making it into the 8th spot in the Play In round was unlikely and would never have happened without the brilliance of Step Curry.
Let us consider another factor that the NBA should consider this year to determine the MVP and that is value to the league and to all of the NBA's fans in a year when fans and non fans of sports needed desperately to be cheered up. Steph Curry's magical year did just that.
Assuming that Jokic and Curry are the two most logical choices for MVP this year, ask yourself which of the two provided you with more viewing pleasure and excitement. Curry hands down. We may be awed by what Jokic can do as a big, but we experience pure pleasure watching Steph Curry darting around opponents and sinking amazing long threes and doing his little dance afterwards, smiling that smile that makes all mothers see him as their fantasy son-in-law.
One might argue I'm not talking sports but public relations. Well, maybe it is - the relationship of the public to the player. In this case, this year, the public needs to be taken into consideration.
All things are not equal. The NBA needs to be wise this season. What Curry had accomplished goes beyond basketball and arguably beyond sports. He has given us joy in the midst of national crises. He should be honored for it. This is the year when the NBA must select co-MVPs. It is the only thing that makes sense.
Another of my little quatrains to close.
Ezra Pound by Tom Meschery
Aye, it is with great exertion he finishes
Leaning into the tape
Does he not appear effortless?
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