Stephen Curry owned 2015.
The Golden State Warriors guard won MVP and led his team to the championship. And he has somehow managed to improve his level of play during the first two months of the 2015-16 season as his team has started an NBA-record 29-1.
So there's little debate that Curry should win the 2015 ESPN Insider Golden Basketball, an award I invented last December to honor NBA players for their year-long exploits, including the playoffs and international play, a la soccer's Ballon d'Or. (FIFA will award that trophy on Jan. 11.)
While Curry was clearly the best basketball player in 2015, he wasn't the only star, so let's take a look at the top-10 candidates for the award based on the past 12 months.
The winner
1. Stephen Curry
Position: PG
Golden State Warriors
Experience: 6 years
Résumé: 2014-15 MVP, 2015 NBA champion, leading contender for 2015-16 MVP
To help with my rankings, I looked at my wins above replacement player (WARP) statistic for three periods: the 2014-15 season after Jan. 1, the 2015 playoffs and 2015-16 to date. Curry pulled off the remarkable feat of leading the league in all three categories.
The only slight blemish on his résumé is that Curry wasn't Finals MVP, which went to teammate Andre Iguodala. However, Curry had a strong case for the award in his own right.
The finalists
2. LeBron James
Position: F
Cleveland Cavaliers
Experience: 12 years
Résumé: Third in 2014-15 MVP voting, led Cavaliers to 2015 NBA Finals
Curry's victory snaps a three-year run for James, to whom I awarded the 2014 Golden Basketball despite his Miami Heat losing in the NBA Finals. James was again on the wrong side of the Finals in 2015, but he was arguably the best player in the series. (I argued ahead of Game 6 that James deserved MVP, win or lose.)
Having throttled things back for the regular season, James is a semi-distant 10th in WARP so far this season. (He's sixth in wins based on ESPN's real plus-minus (RPM).) But nobody else had a better 12 months besides Curry.
3. James Harden
Position: SG
Houston Rockets
Experience: 6 years
Résumé: Runner-up for 2014-15 MVP, 2014-15 Players' Award for MVP
It pains me to nominate Harden as a finalist given his indifferent approach to defense over the first two months of this season. Still, the fact is we're just a few months removed from a legitimate debate over whether Harden or Curry deserved MVP.
While media voters favored Curry, fellow players chose Harden for their inaugural awards ceremony. And Harden had a better postseason -- leading the Rockets to the conference finals -- than most of the players who are off to good starts this season. So he gets the third spot in the rankings.
The candidates
4. Russell Westbrook
Position: PG
Oklahoma City Thunder
Experience: 7 years
Résumé: Third in WARP in 2014-15 after Jan. 1, second in WARP thus far in 2015-16
Given that the Golden Basketball is designed to reward both regular-season and playoff performance, it's hard to finish in the top five without making the postseason.
Westbrook deserves to be the exception to the rule based on his superhuman performance in Kevin Durant's absence last season, which he has mostly kept up while playing alongside Durant so far in 2015-16. Westbrook even leads the NBA in RPM this season, ahead of Curry.
5. Kawhi Leonard
Position: SF
San Antonio Spurs
Experience: 4 years
Résumé: 2014-15 Defensive Player of the Year
Leonard began the year on the sidelines due to a torn ligament in his right hand. Fully healthy after the All-Star break, he established himself as one of the league's top two-way contributors, winning Defensive Player of the Year.
Leonard has picked right up where he left off last season, rating as a top-five player by both RPM and WARP. A longer postseason run might have made Leonard a finalist at age 24.
6. Draymond Green
Position: F/C
Golden State Warriors
Experience: 3 years
Résumé: 2014-15 Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, 2015 NBA champion
It's hard to believe that even six months ago the notion of Green as the second-best player on the Warriors ran counter to conventional wisdom. While Green got plenty of credit for his defense, it took spending more time at center as part of the so called "death lineup" for his true value at both ends to become evident.
So far this season, Green is leading the team in assists per game (the most by a full-time power forward or center since Wilt Chamberlain) while shooting nearly 39 percent from 3-point range. His unique combination of skills is vital to Golden State's success.
7. Chris Paul
Position: PG
Los Angeles Clippers
Experience: 10 years
Résumé: Sixth in 2014-15 MVP voting
Paul was fourth in the league in WARP after Jan. 1 last season, two spots higher than he finished on the MVP ballot.
Despite nursing an injured hamstring, Paul hit the shot that knocked the Spurs out of the playoffs in a thrilling Game 7. Alas, the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead over the Houston Rockets in the conference semifinals, crushing Paul's hopes of finally reaching the conference finals
8. Blake Griffin
Position: PF
Los Angeles Clippers
Experience: 5 years
Résumé: 2014-15 All-NBA Third Team
Though the Clippers were clearly Paul's team during the 2014-15 regular season, Griffin stepped into a leading role during the playoffs, averaging 25.5 points, 12.1 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. He was crucial to the Clippers splitting the two postseason games Paul missed due to his hamstring injury.
Griffin had largely maintained that level of play this season before suffering a partial tear of his quadriceps tendon that is expected to keep him out for at least two weeks.
9. Anthony Davis
Position: F/C
New Orleans Pelicans
Experience: 3 years
Résumé: 2014-15 All-NBA First Team
Davis finished fifth in MVP voting and made the All-NBA First Team after helping the Pelicans to the playoffs.
The second half of his calendar year, however, hasn't gone quite as well. In part because of injuries to New Orleans' backcourt, Davis has taken a step back in 2015-16, and New Orleans is trying to fight its way into the playoff race after starting the season 1-11.
10. Pau Gasol
Position: C
Chicago Bulls
Experience: 14 years
Résumé: EuroBasket MVP/champion
Since the USA had this summer off, international play wasn't a major factor in the 2015 Golden Basketball. However, Gasol deserves credit for leading a depleted Spanish national team to its third gold medal in the past four EuroBasket competitions.
Gasol was named MVP of EuroBasket for the second time, on top of earning All-NBA Second Team honors with the Bulls.