Curry doesn’t have to be a finals MVP to prove he’s invaluable

While football has rarely before had a decade like this one where two players have been streets out on their own, basketball during the same period hasn’t even had such a contest.

Ever since the Los Angeles Lakers’ bid to reach a fourth consecutive NBA finals ended tamely with being swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the 2011 playoffs, Kobe Bryant’s already-contentious case for being the best player on the planet ceased with it.