Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry won the NBA’s second Clutch Player of the Year award on Thursday.
Curry beat out DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to win the honor, which was created last season as an additional season-long award to go with Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.
The NBA defines “clutch time” as the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the game is within five points.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is the recipient of the Jerry West Trophy as the 2023-24 Kia NBA Clutch Player of the Year. pic.twitter.com/NyylEJXK2R
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 25, 2024
Curry, 36, led the NBA in clutch points this season, scoring 189. DeRozan was second with 182 clutch points, though his average of 4.6 per game was higher than Curry’s 4.4. (The Bulls guard also played the most minutes in clutch time among the three finalists at 191.8.) Gilgeous-Alexander scored 112, ranking seventh among players who appeared in at least 15 games.
The Warriors star earned 45 first-place votes, finishing ahead of DeRozan’s 34 and Gilgeous-Alexander’s 11. Also getting first-place votes in balloting were the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic (4), New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (2) and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks (1).
For the season, Curry averaged 26.4 points, 5.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds, while shooting 41 percent from three-point range for a Golden State squad that finished 10th in the Western Conference standings after losing their play-in tournament matchup with the Sacramento Kings.
Curry adds this season’s Clutch Player honors to a personal trophy case that includes two NBA MVP awards, an NBA Finals MVP, 10 All-Star bids (and All-Star Game MVP) and four NBA championships.
The Clutch Player winner receives the Jerry West Trophy. The legendary Los Angeles Lakers star was nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” during his 14-year career for his excellent shooting at the end of close games.
Last season’s inaugural honors went to Kings guard De’Aaron Fox.
Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey tipped off the NBA’s award season this week with winning Most Improved Player honors on Tuesday. That was followed by Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid earning the Sixth Man of the Year award on Thursday.
Coach of the Year will be awarded on Sunday, while Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and MVP will be announced on dates still to be determined.
The three finalists for each of the remaining NBA awards can be seen here.
