The Tribune

STEPHEN Curry is officially the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) first unanimous Most Valuable Player

While the idea is easy to grasp, noting Curry’s tremendous performances on the court this season, the phrase is somewhat hard to accept given the calibre of players we have seen come through the National Basketball Association (NBA) in years past.

The Warriors’ All-Star guard certainly started the 2015-2016 campaign as the consensus pick to repeat as league MVP, but with that said, many basketball experts anticipated strong campaigns by the likes of Kevin Durant, Lebron James, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade and Blake Griffin.

None of these all-time great players managed to get a single first-place vote.

James, a multiple MVP winner in his own right, led a quality Cleveland Cavaliers team to the top spot in the eastern conference. Wade, another classic, top-notch performer, led a sub-par Heat team to the playoffs. The same could be said for Durant, Westbrook, Paul and Griffin. All great players, all led their teams to the playoffs.

The fact that Curry’s campaign dwarfed that of all the others in the voting list leaves many to wonder: does this unanimous selection say more about Curry or the talent pool of today’s NBA?

This week former all-star Tracy McGrady came under fire for suggesting that Curry’s unanimous title signalled how “watered down” the NBA had become in recent years.

“For (Stephen Curry) to be that first player to get this unanimously, it just tells you how watered down our league is. Think about when (Michael Jordan) played, (Shaquille O’Neal). Those guys really played against top-notch competition - more superstars, I think, on more teams than in our league today.’’

During the 1995-1996 campaign, the year Jordan led the Bulls to what was the best record in NBA history, a combined regular season and post-season record of 87-13, Hakeem Olajuwon, Penny Hardaway and Karl Malone all got at least one first place vote.

That season Olajuwon passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leader in blocked shots in the last game of the season. Hardaway led the Magic to their best record in franchise history.

I point out those to feats to say this: Jordan that year was as good on the court as Curry was this past year. I will admit however, at times this season, Curry has looked just as prodigious when compared to the competition as Jordan did during his.

Curry today plays with an ease, giving you the feeling that he is simply better than everyone else. That is what Jordan did for so long and so well.

So if the fault isn’t in those two players specifically, then McGrady’s point has to be, through circumstances, correct.

The talent is different. While Curry is doing something we have never witnessed before, the talent in the league has almost began to acquiesce to him.

In Jordan’s day, opponents wanted to go at him, compete, relish in the fact that for moment, they outplayed the greatest of all-time. While McGrady’s point of more stars existing in the days of Jordan and Shaq remains unproven, his idea that the league may now be ‘watered down’ I will accept.

Players have now moved away from the ‘me against you mantra’. It is no longer about outperforming the other contenders on the court.

McGrady is right: the NBA is no longer what it was. Yes, it is still good, but gone are the days where guys pushed for the top spot and the admiration that comes with it.

We are surrounded by content players that find more in social circles than they do in victory. I congratulate Stephen Curry on doing something once thought impossible even for the men that did the impossible - he made it look ordinary.