Steph Curry and the Gaslighting Campaign Against Him

[Texas Chuck]

Sometimes the guy on your team shares an era with another great player. My boy Dirk had to come through with Timmy and Kobe and Shaq and Lebron and KD and..... Doesn't make Dirk any less great that some other guys got their shine too.

To be fair, that narrative about Dirk being soft up until he won his championship was BS. While this guy is being hyper sensitive, can you imagine if they still kept calling him soft? Curry really does seem to be down played a lot more than other stars of his stature.

I mean he's not. You just hear it all and take note because its a Warrior. Lebron takes 100x as much crap as Curry, but he's not your guy so it doesn't stick.

And I never worried about Dirk narratives. The players knew. The coaches knew. I didn't care if Skip or Stephen A knew. Or the average casual NBA fan.

Dirk wasn't the best player of his era. Steph isn't either. Timmy is a top 5 all-time guy. Lebron is a top 1 all-time guy. But Dirk and Steph are both all-time greats in their own right, and will go down as such.

Multiple championships. 73 wins. Best shooter of all-time with nobody even considered a close 2nd. Unanimous MVP. Multiple all-NBA 1st team, all-star every year, etc....

The idea this guy isn't appreciated is laughable.

[letskissbro]

All right so I hear there is an MVP for Olympics Basketball that was dormant but that the media revived. Predictably it goes to LeBron James. Unfortunately by predictably I don't mean that it was because he was the clearcut choice from the actual performances but more in the sense that ahead of time you know that certain movies that fit the Oscar bait mold will likely win the Oscar whatever the merits of the other movies nominated.

Look I get the argument for LeBron's selection and because I do I understand it can come off as petty to criticize it. My initial inclination therefore after rolling my eyes is to quietly move on.

But then I remember something.

This isn't an isolated incident.

Far from it. It is part of what appears to be a consistent pattern.

And the one who is being targeted and disadvantaged is Steph Curry.

I recognized Curry as a special player around 2016. Even after the loss in the finals I projected that he could be a top 5 player all-time. To me it was obvious that the signs were there. That's why I've been mystified ever since that there have been so many expressions of doubt or what I perceived to be low assessments of Steph's impact.

Why is it taking people so long to recognize just how incredible Steph Curry is?

I cannot help but escape the feeling that part of the reason is that the media has been manipulating and perverting opinions about him. Whenever he falls short, they are quick to write him off. Whenever he succeeds, they damn him with faint praise treating him like a precocious child who won a high school science project. And whenever a comparison is to be made they make the most underwhelming one they can get away with.

Case I
The Iguodala FMVP
Probably the most prominent early incident was the 2015 FMVP selection. There was an earlier notable media snub when Curry wasn't selected for an All-NBA team in 2013 but that was perhaps understandable with Curry just emerging as a force on the biggest stage but by the 2015 Finals Curry had just led his team to 67 wins and was named MVP.

Still when his team won, the FMVP was given to Iguodala. Curry looked lackluster and stymied for a lot of the series and a narrative built up that a change in the starting lineup suggested by a video guy to wide-eyed newbie coach Steve Kerr was the key to victory. The feel good story of a democratic team combined with Iguodala being the one guarding LeBron was enough to override the gaping scoring difference between Steph and Andre and the fact Steph exploding in the 4th quarters of the critical games is what sealed the championship win in 6 games. The media was clearly wed to the idea that LeBron was the reason for everything and reasoned that stopping him was all that mattered. Iguodala it is. Steph Curry? Good player but his success this year was probably a blip and he'll fade away and become just another passing season rival for LeBron like Paul George. Oh how wrong they were. But the end result in this case was still Curry's reputation being sacrificed to uphold the narrative that LeBron was unfairly overmatched by a great team effort.

Case II
The Durant FMVPs
After the thrilling but ultimately disappointing 2016 Durant comes to town. Media automatically starts treating KD like he's the best player on the team. Despite Curry having already led his team to a championship. Despite Curry having already led his team to two historic seasons. Despite Curry being the one and only unanimous MVP in NBA history. Despite Curry and the Warriors facing KD and the Thunder the previous year and emerging victorious. For some reason KD's the guy. I like KD. I think he's great. But the way the media was completely ignoring Curry was absolutely bizarre.

KD and the Warriors click. KD and Curry are brilliant together. When it's time to acknowledge them, however, the media instead of acting like journalists when they sold the Iguodala FMVP as a nod to the democratic nature of the team chooses to act like a drama instigator by awarding two FMVPs to KD despite lots and lots of room to take in the big picture that the lopsided finals victories provided. So instead of the story being two great players teaming up to dominate the league, the media story is KD takes over and is the best player. End result is Curry's now being portrayed as some secondary support player in a KD show. Meanwhile LeBron is still sitting pretty because the previous unfairly overmatched narrative is actually reasonable and with the media spotlight on KD the player with the actual best argument against LeBron's supremacy is being obscured.

Case III
MVPs 2017-2022
Curry in 2017 leads what is arguably the greatest NBA team of all-time to a 67-win record. Curry is 6th in MVP voting. What? Okay there are some understandable factors chiefly KD on the same team. But KD missed something like 14 games. Doesn't matter. As long as Curry and KD are together they're pretty much ruled out from MVP consideration. Mind you playing with Wade didn't stop LeBron from becoming MVP in 2012 or 2013 or being top 3 in MVP voting in their inaugural year.

I'll also make a quick note regarding Giannis' and Jokic's two MVPs each during this time. I've heard it argued based mainly on their MVPs that they are close to Steph in terms of career achievements. Sorry but they are still both faaar away. Even Jokic with his three MVPs doesn't yet come close to defining an era the way Steph has impacted his prime years. Steph in 2021 and 2022 presented two contrasting arguments for MVP, Jokic presented the same one. Steph did not get a benefit of the doubt that someone like Magic did.
End result is that even though Steph probably would have clearly overtaken LeBron for most people, media hid that behind Giannis and Jokic talk.

Case IV
The Obvious Debate
There are media talk shows that seem to do nothing but debate basketball. This forum is geared to debating nothing but basketball. So why is it that everyone avoids the most obvious comparison of the last decade in basketball? Namely LeBron vs. Steph.
Part of the reason I think some people are so resistant to accepting Steph as a top 10 player all-time is because it makes the comparison unavoidable. But with Steph entrenching himself ever more firmly in the public imagination as not just the greatest shooter of all-time but a top 10 greatest player of all-time it becomes ever more absurd the way the topic is avoided.

Media is clearly part of the reason this debate really hasn't come to pass. They've kept comparing LeBron to Jordan while comparing Curry to Lillard for as long as they could. How ridiculous is that? It's like comparing LeBron to DeMar DeRozan. But media has popularized such a comparison.

From the above one can see that there has been a pattern of gaslighting people into thinking less of Curry. Now I'm sure there are those who would object. They may accuse me of just being a crazy Curry fan. If only the implications were limited to Curry fandom. But think on it a little more and the implications might start getting wild. If media is gaslighting people about this, what else might they be gaslighting people about?—but that might be too scary to think about.

Watch on YouTube

[og15]

that has a lot to do with his playstyle...playing offball and setting screen/opening up his teammates do not show up in box scores and yet most of the awards are based on box scores and PER...sadly it might take another 20 years for the general public to realize that.

I'm curious as to which people who determine awards you believe are using PER to determine it.

Finals MVP, definitely box score stats are always going to play a factor, but the Iguodala one, I don't even think he beat Steph in any stat, and there was no PER to go off of, so certainly wasn't a basic box score dive or PER that determined that.

[LaLover11]

Did he really think there was only MEN MVP and it was because of LeBron? I dont even know with these people...

It wouldn’t have suprised me no and i didnt know cause i heard nothing about it lol

This is what irrational hate does to a person.

It's honestly quite sad and feel bad for people with this type of hate for a player.

Clearly I'm a LeBron fan but if Jordan was winning MVP at 39yrs old at the Olympics, I would give Michael all the credit he deserves smh

[WarriorGM]

6 pages in and I still don't know who the people determining this Olympics MVP award are. What is the purpose of this award anyway? Are they willing to explain it? Are they just a faceless bunch of PR people?

[WarriorGM]

I don't think I've ever met someone more insecure, desperate, and delusional than WarriorGM. Over something that not only isn't a big deal but isn't hard to understand, he writes an autobiography explaining why he disagrees with it.

Bruh.

A bunch of dumb nonsense

Overreacting. Overthinking.

Calling this overthinking would be a massive compliment. I don't think any legitimate thinking went into this at all, which is par the course with WarriorGM posts.

Objectively speaking your post is what displays less legitimate thinking. Ad hominum basically with little support. My first post developed an argument with support. Please learn how to write first before criticizing others writing.

Here let me help you out.

Insecure? I'm making an unpopular argument with some of you and willing to defend it. Is that a sign of insecurity?

Desperate? For what? Do I need to be?

Delusional? What is this delusion?

Answer those questions and then maybe your accusations may begin to make sense.

[Onlytimewilltel]

yes everything is always about the player on your favorite team. And any time they don;t get every single flower its a coordinated gaslighting hit job.

I mean imagine coming through that dynasty and still being this insecure. I can imagine the OP being a fan of the Russell Celtics and writing diatribes about the 2 titles they didn't win and how it was a giant conspiracy.

Steph is amazing. So is Lebron. Sometimes the guy on your team shares an era with another great player. My boy Dirk had to come through with Timmy and Kobe and Shaq and Lebron and KD and..... Doesn't make Dirk any less great that some other guys got their shine too.

Basically this. Funny the OP didn’t respond to it. Nothing else to say I guess

[Edrees]

I would have given 2 finals mvps that he didn't get (The Iguodala one and one of the durant ones) but I thought Lebron and Curry were actually nearly equally deserving with this one, it was truly a toss up. There's no "gaslighting" involved here on my end.

The only real irony here is that if 2015, 2017, and 2018 were playoffs MVPs, Curry would have won at least two, maybe even three, but he only didn't because it was only finals MVP. Opposite case here. If they awarded a Gold Medal/AKA Finals MVP, Curry wins it in a landslide, and he only lost because it was a "Playoffs" (All olympics games) MVP.

[WarriorGM]

Steph had every chance to play better in the group stage.

Was it an “agenda” and “gaslighting” when he shot 1-9 with 4 fouls and had a negative plus minus vs Sudan? It’s also funny how through the entirety of your opening post the word “defense”, which is half the game, didn’t enter the conversation. I wonder why?

I may be wrong but my understanding is that a loss to South Sudan wouldn't have been fatal to gold medal aspirations. A loss to Serbia in their last game or to France would have been.

Defense could have been provided by others. The firepower to keep the team in it or to put the game away? Unless KD or Booker were going to raise their game to Steph's level it wasn't really obvious where it would be coming from.

The gaslighting isn't a result of this one decision. As I said there's a one-sided history of it.

Yes, Defense was provided by other players, specifically, the player who did eventually win MVP.

I completely agree with you on three points;

a) Steph not winning 2015 finals MVP was a travesty of justice. I’d go as far as to say it is the most undeserved award in the past decade. Ludicrous.

b) Steph definitely deserves more praise as an integral part of basketball history. he’s arguably the best offensive player of the 21st century, certainly the best shooter ever, and the league has changed forever in no small part due to his contributions.


c) Steph did ultimately make the difference in the SF/F and was the best player if we limit it to just that two game sample size.

However… you venture into logical fallacy territory quite quickly. LeBron was also great, not just good, great vs Serbia and France. Serbia especially when he scored/assisted on 18 points in the 4th AND guarded Jokic, taking Serbia out of their offensive rhythm and flow. Curry was incandescent of course but it’s not like LeBron was not good.

What you’ve presented is an argument for why you feel Steph should’ve won this award (and others). And I agree with parts of it, and would have been happy to see Steph get the MVP in the end. But there are factual reasons that have nothing to do with “agenda” or “gaslighting” that explain why LeBron and to a lesser extent KD won their awards instead of Curry. Defense matters to voters more than you personally think it does, and so does consistency across all games.

Here's the thing: where's the proof that this defense and consistency you speak of is more valuable than what Curry brings? It sounds like whoever made the choices fell back on conventional wisdom rather than actually appreciating what was going on in the games themselves or in understanding what these players strengths are and their impact. Why didn't Klay get more MVP consideration? He's the closest player to Steph in many ways and brings more defense. Or why is it that KD consistently dropping 40 still meant more losses for the Warriors while Steph was away? We saw KD's consistency vs. Curry's explosiveness going head-to-head in a series before. The explosiveness won out. People learned nothing. Perhaps they keep rewarding the wrong things. Sounds like someone should inform them.

[warriorschamps]

Wait someone said Lebron makes his teammates better? Stop playing now. Y'all going to make me spit out my coffee. That would be an obvious no.

Ask Bosh, Love, Westbrook and many others if Lebron made them better. And if they say yes they are lying! Anyway regardless of what they say we have 21 years of evidence to the contrary.

I always ask this question to the fanboys and they go silence real quick. How many guys have made their FIRST all star game playing along side Lebron? Keep in mind this is a 21 year career as well.

People always say Lebron doesn't have enough help. What they won't tell you though is Lebron doesn't make anyone around him better. That could be on the court as I pointed out above.

Or that could be just by the guy sucking up all the oxygen in the room. I'm sure we all know people like that. They feel they have to always talk and be the center of attention. They feel they have to try to lead when nobody asked them to lead.

[WarriorGM]

Sometimes the guy on your team shares an era with another great player. My boy Dirk had to come through with Timmy and Kobe and Shaq and Lebron and KD and..... Doesn't make Dirk any less great that some other guys got their shine too.

To be fair, that narrative about Dirk being soft up until he won his championship was BS. While this guy is being hyper sensitive, can you imagine if they still kept calling him soft? Curry really does seem to be down played a lot more than other stars of his stature.

I mean he's not. You just hear it all and take note because its a Warrior. Lebron takes 100x as much crap as Curry, but he's not your guy so it doesn't stick.

And I never worried about Dirk narratives. The players knew. The coaches knew. I didn't care if Skip or Stephen A knew. Or the average casual NBA fan.

Dirk wasn't the best player of his era. Steph isn't either. Timmy is a top 5 all-time guy. Lebron is a top 1 all-time guy. But Dirk and Steph are both all-time greats in their own right, and will go down as such.

Multiple championships. 73 wins. Best shooter of all-time with nobody even considered a close 2nd. Unanimous MVP. Multiple all-NBA 1st team, all-star every year, etc....

The idea this guy isn't appreciated is laughable.

LeBron takes 100x more crap because the things he says and the puffery about him are 100x more provocative and unmoored.

He's the best player ever? I'm willing to debate that. Do I see any takers? No. Instead I get dismissiveness. Is that respectful? No it isn't. Others experience this too. Cue 100x more crap directed at LeBron.

---------------------------------------------------

A guy leads a team to 3 championship in 4 finals appearances and finally gets 1 FMVP as an award from media as they deign to suggest that is what finally shows he's arrived.

What poppycock.

[Iwasawitness]

I don't think I've ever met someone more insecure, desperate, and delusional than WarriorGM. Over something that not only isn't a big deal but isn't hard to understand, he writes an autobiography explaining why he disagrees with it.

Bruh.

Overreacting. Overthinking.

Calling this overthinking would be a massive compliment. I don't think any legitimate thinking went into this at all, which is par the course with WarriorGM posts.

Objectively speaking your post is what displays less legitimate thinking. Ad hominum basically with little support. My first post developed an argument with support. Please learn how to write first before criticizing others writing.

Here let me help you out.

Insecure? I'm making an unpopular argument with some of you and willing to defend it. Is that a sign of insecurity?

Desperate? For what? Do I need to be?

Delusional? What is this delusion?

Answer those questions and then maybe your accusations may begin to make sense.

Case in point. Add “lack of self awareness” to the list of things wrong with WarriorGM threads.

[Black Jack]

Media voted awards are not on court stuff to me, they are inherently political.

MVPs and finals MVPs are far less important than actually winning and putting up stats. In my book.

[WolfAddict]

Media voted awards are not on court stuff to me, they are inherently political.

MVPs and finals MVPs are far less important than actually winning and putting up stats. In my book.

I'd like to order 10 copies of your book please...

(Just me saying I 100% agree with you)

[Swindle]

I don’t think Curry gets underrated. He’s on tons of all-time starting 5 lists over Magic Johnson given the way the modern game is played. Olympics MVP wasn’t going to catapult him higher than that (or Lebron for that matter).

You know what would have been truly special and this should eat at the heart of every Curry fan. He was the first unanamous MVP shooting 50/40/90 with over 30 ppg on a 73 win team. He had his shot at basketball immortality then blew a 3-1 finals lead. Curry gave Lebron fans their biggest claim to LeBron being the GOAT when it could of so easily been the other way around. Can’t blame media for that one

[GQ Hot Dog]

I wonder what this Olympics narrative would have been if Kerr installed an offense arranged around getting Curry open shots? I imagine he would have been awarded the MVP.

But of course that never would have happened because both Kerr and especially Curry understand the world doesn't revolve around Curry's legacy. I'm not sure that understanding is true of all the players on Team USA.

Lebron is revered by most dedicated NBA fans, but Curry is the most beloved player up and down the ranks of NBA fandom, from the most hardcore fans to the most casual. It's not really debatable. Mothers/wives/girlfriends and children love Curry like no male sports figure I've ever seen. I think that infuriates the basketball "purists" that want perfect physical specimen basketball gods like Lebron to be recognized over otherwise unremarkable talents like Curry.

Just as MJ is still recognized for his killer instinct and competitiveness, Curry will be recognized for his class, decency and respect for the game and will be for as long as basketball is someone's passion. I'm proud of being a massive Curry fan because he represents the best traits of humanity more than any other player ever.

[Raonak]

Curry being robbed of another MVP is just fitting honestly. I aint even mad, because it kinda just adds to his legend of being underrated.

Curry's already the most entertaining player since MJ, most influential player, the best shooter of all time, has both regular season and playoff record. Plus he's the rival of goat candidate lebron, who is very polarising (lots of MJ fans will end up propping up Curry due to his winning finals record against lebron).

Steph's legacy will age like fine wine, especially with how important shooters are to basketball now.

[SweaterBae]

6 pages in and I still don't know who the people determining this Olympics MVP award are. What is the purpose of this award anyway? Are they willing to explain it? Are they just a faceless bunch of PR people?

Why in the world would you come here to learn anything?

[WarriorGM]

6 pages in and I still don't know who the people determining this Olympics MVP award are. What is the purpose of this award anyway? Are they willing to explain it? Are they just a faceless bunch of PR people?

Why in the world would you come here to learn anything?

So you don't know either? I came to learn that.

[SweaterBae]

6 pages in and I still don't know who the people determining this Olympics MVP award are. What is the purpose of this award anyway? Are they willing to explain it? Are they just a faceless bunch of PR people?

Why in the world would you come here to learn anything?

So you don't know either? I came to learn that.

Then **** google it.

This took 6 seconds. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/who-votes-on-olympics-mvp-breaking-down-voting-process-and-revisiting-basketball-award-winners-by-year/ar-AA1oyL0R