Can the only unanimously voted MVP come back to win it for a third time during the 2019-20 NBA season?

Steph Curry is no stranger to accolades. He’s a champion, a shot taker with ice in his veins, and a player that helped change the very fabric of the game of basketball.

It’s also fair to say that he’s sacrificed some personal success for the greater good of the Golden State Warriors. After all, why wouldn’t you give up a few touches after Kevin Durant decided to join the team that had come back from a 3-1 deficit to send his Oklahoma City Thunder packing.

Curry gave up shots and his focal role in the Warriors offense, which paid off for the team. It allowed Steve Kerr to take advantage of KD’s unique talents and made the Warriors even more difficult to handle. Curry’s sacrifice came with a return of two championships in three years – a worthy reward.

The team’s success makes it easy to forget that just three years ago, Curry was a back-to-back MVP and the only unanimous choice in NBA history. He put forth a herculean effort in 2015-16, putting up 30.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. He did this while posting shooting splits of 50/45/90 in a season where it seemed like he simply never missed a big shot. This was also a season that saw Curry and his teammates set a new regular season win total, beating the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls who held the record for two decades.

An Unrecognizable Roster

If the Warriors are going to dream of a top-four finish in the loaded western conference, they’re going to need THAT Curry to show up again.

Far too many things have happened in the last few months, starting with their shock NBA Finals loss to the Toronto Raptors. As good as Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors were, there will always be those who wonder what would have happened if Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson didn’t go down with horrific injuries in Game 5 and 6, respectively.

That set in motion a chain of events that drastically altered the Warriors. Most important of all of them being Kevin Durant’s decision to head east to the Brooklyn Nets.

Durant’s call to leave, as he told J.R. Moehringer of The Wall Street Journal, came down to a chemistry issue.

“I came in there wanting to be part of a group, wanting to be part of a family, and definitely felt accepted,” shared Durant. “But I’ll never be one of those guys. I didn’t get drafted there… Steph Curry, obviously drafted there. Andre Iguodala won the first Finals, first championship. Klay Thompson drafted there. Draymond Green drafted there. And the rest of the guys kind of rehabilitated their careers there. So, me? Shit, how you going to rehabilitate me? How can you alter anything in my basketball life? I got an MVP already. I got scoring titles.”

Durant wasn’t the only one from the championship core to leave the team, either. Andre Iguodala headed to Memphis, DeMarcus Cousins went to LA, and Shaun Livingston retired. Bit players like Damian Jones and Quinn Cook are gone, too.

The new guys, headlined by D’Angelo Russell, may not be enough. While the electric guard could be a difference maker, he also plays the same position as Curry.

The other additions, Willie Cauley-Stein, Glenn Robinson III, Omari Spellman, and Alec Burks aren’t exactly marquee players.

Curry and Russell are likely to be the only two volume scorers that the Warriors will be able to rely on for most of the season. Klay’s ACL injury means that he may not be in top shape until the playoffs, at the earliest.

Russell is capable of taking over games, as shown by his scoring 27 of 44 points in the fourth quarter to lead an improbable comeback over the Sacramento Kings. He’s not one to shy away from a big shot, but he’s going to need time to get used to a new offense and earn the respect of coach Steve Kerr and team leaders like Curry and Draymond Green.

The Western Conference Bloodbath

During that time, the Warriors are going to have to play teams like the re-upped Lakers, who now have a tandem of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and the Clippers – who signed both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in a wild offseason. The Sacramento Kings have also added to their depth in an effort to build on a surprising 2018-19 season that had them in playoff contention for most of the season.

Those are just their division rivals.

Their perennial playoff enemies, the Houston Rockets, added Russell Westbrook to the roster, pairing the explosive guard with good friend James Harden.

The Denver Nuggets still boast the trio of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Paul Millsap.

The Utah Jazz added Mike Conley, while the Portland Trail Blazers also added Hassan Whiteside to play with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

Even the Pelicans, who lost Anthony Davis, are looking to be a pretty good team with Lonzo Ball, JJ Redick, Brandon Ingram, and Zion Williamson.

If the Warriors are going to have a good record, it’s going to come down to Curry’s regular season performance. Fortunately, he’s going to be put in a position to thrive. Without Durant around as a bailout option when the offense slows down, Curry and the rest of the team are going to have to go back to the freewheeling offense that everyone came to love.

If it works out, that brand of basketball is going to be fun to watch. Until the season is over, don’t count Curry out as a contender for MVP.