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In case you missed it, we have seen a more aggressive Stephen Curry since the Christmas day loss to the Cavaliers. The NBA certainly didn’t miss it, and today announced that he has been named Western Conference player of the week. His numbers in the past week have been inching back closer to what many of us have come to expect from the two-time MVP. This will be his 8th time receiving the award.
Jimmy Butler (east) and Stephen Curry (west) named NBA players o' the week. pic.twitter.com/xyWauOyiNJ
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) January 9, 2017
As we pointed out not too long ago here, it seemed like the biggest difference for Curry this year was that he wasn’t shooting as often. He mentioned in a recent interview that while he doesn’t want to disrupt team chemistry or the flow of offense, he needs to be an assertive offensive force, unafraid to attempt the type of shots that have made him a household name.
If you were looking for it, here is the silver lining from that tough Christmas day loss to the Cavs:
Steph Curry has been more aggressive since the Christmas game. He talks about why pic.twitter.com/99IEkzbi5U
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 5, 2017
While basketball isn’t necessarily the most complicated of sports, I think it is fair to say that integrating a new superstar onto your team can be tricky. As the Warriors work together to figure out the best way to make this team reach peak #LightYears velocity, it’s definitely a good sign that Curry is aggressively looking for his shot more now. Durant came to this team to play beside a man who looked like one of the greatest ever. Not just the greatest shooter, but truly, one of the all time greats. This award may not be as objectively important as his back-to-back MVP awards, but I would argue that it is of nearly equal importance because it heralds the return of the GOAT version of Steph.
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For all the hand-wringing, are we finally seeing Curry make a return to his form of yesteryear, where he was the first ever unanimous MVP and torched the opposition on a nightly basis? Time will tell, but all Warriors fans should be very happy to see Steph finally looking more and more like himself.