LeBron James and Stephen Curry have literally been the face of the NBA since 2015 when Curry was named the league’s MVP and led the Golden State Warriors to an NBA championship. While LeBron’s rule over the league has lasted for years, Curry has recently become popular worldwide, but apparently, this year’s rookies don’t concur.
Voted on by 39 rookies in a poll conducted by NBA.com, LeBron James was voted as their favorite player in the league, receiving 31.5 percent of the vote. Following James in the polls wasn’t Curry. Instead, it was Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook, Mr.
Triple Double, who earned 19.4 percent of vote.
Kawhi Leonard was third in the voting, receiving 8.3 percent, while James Harden was fourth with 6.5 percent. Curry’s teammates Draymond Green and Kevin Durant were tied for fifth with 5.6 percent each. Seventh was Anthony Davis with 4.3 percent, and eighth was Kyrie Irving with 3.7 percent.
Stephen Curry gets zero votes
So where was Steph Curry in all of this? Nowhere to be found. In fact, the two-time MVP did not receive a vote from the rookies, not even one. Other players who received votes include Carmelo Anthony, Jamal Crawford, Pau Gasol, Paul George, Blake Griffin, and even Dwight Howard.
Of course, these players were asked who their favorite player is, not who the best player is, but the results are still very surprising.
Anthony has been on the decline recently, and Howard hasn’t been relevant in the past few years, yet the two players received more votes than Curry, who has changed the game of basketball and has helped the Warriors win two rings.
Crawford and Gasol aren’t nearly as good as Curry or as impactful, but they received votes as well.
So what’s the deal here?
Why didn't the rookies vote for Stephen Curry?
Perhaps these rookies are upset that Curry has changed the NBA into a three-point shooting league. Maybe these new youngsters don’t like the new style of play and are old-fashioned rookies. Whatever the case, it’s still amusing that out of 39 rookies, not a single one of them voted for Curry as their favorite player.
Of course, in Stephen Curry’s world, this is going to light more fire under him. Not only did his current biggest rival LeBron James earn first in the voting, there is also the fact that Curry didn’t receive any votes. What’s even more of a slap in Curry’s face is that his two teammates were voted into the top eight, yet he couldn’t get one measly vote.
