Lakers legend explains prophetic Steph Curry MVP take 2 years before winning it
If you were a hardcore NBA fan before the 2015-16 NBA season, you would have been forgiven for thinking that Steph Curry would never reach the heights that he's achieved in his career. He was considered to be too small to be truly effective, he dealt with chronic ankle issues and seemed like a typical volume shooter with handles.
To claim that only few people would have Steph in their top-10 all-time players list a decade ago wouldn't be a stretch. However, it seems that at least one NBA icon did have him on their list, even before he revolutionized the league.
Metta Sandiford-Artest, previously known as Ron Artest or Metta World Peace, was already convinced that Steph would become a top-ten player and a league MVP.
In fact, he was so confident about it, that he tweeted about it in 2013, two years before Steph won his first MVP award.
Yes, he did get the name wrong, and yes, fans clowned him for his take, but as it turns out, Artest was right.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda's Mark Medina, Artest looked back on the moment when he predicted the future.
Medina brought up Artest's other prediction that LeBron James was going to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record. However, he was more keen on speaking about his other prediction as he interrupted Medina to say this about Steph Curry:
"“Yup, yup. I also said that Steph Curry would be the MVP before he got it, and people were doubting me," said Artest. "You can go back on Twitter. I was calling Steph the MVP. Anybody that commented said, ‘No way!' Nobody was talking about him being MVP [earlier in his career], but I was. I thought he would be one of the best players ever. Remember when he was becoming good? No one thought he would be in the argument for top-10. Who has him now in their top-10? A lot of people. Nobody is keeping him off their top-10."
Also read: 'I thought it was too much': Metta Sandiford-Artest on Draymond Green's incidents, LeBron and Steph's greatness (Exclusive)
Taking a look at Steph Curry's first MVP season two years after Metta Sandiford-Artest's prediction
If you read the scouting reports and early assessments on Steph Curry, you would think that a different player was being talked about. He was overlooked at the beginning of his career, and for good reason. He did not have the size, his defense was questionable, and he was also prone to injuries.
However, he proved everyone wrong when he changed the way the game of basketball was played at the highest level.
The player shot to superstardom in the 2014-15 season. The Warriors hired Steve Kerr to become their new head coach and his system gave the point guard more freedom to operate.
Kerr's faith in him was repaid with averages of 23.8 ppg and 7.7 apg to go with a 48.7% FG% and 44.3 3pt%. With those numbers, Steph Curry led the Golden State Warriors to a 67-win season and his first MVP award.
The team demolished their competition in the playoffs on the way to the NBA Finals, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers for what would be their first of four titles.