Typically, the NBA Finals MVP award goes to the most impactful player on the championship-winning team, particularly the one who dominates statistically throughout the series
The 2015 NBA Finals remain a notable exception, with many still wondering how Stephen Curry failed to win the award despite averaging nearly 10 points per game more than the next-best scorer on the Golden State Warriors.
According to Brendan Haywood , however, the Cleveland Cavaliers were not surprised by the outcomes.
In fact, he stressed on an episode of "The Gils Arena Show" that the top-most priority was to stop Curry from dominating from long range. Thus, the Cavs' entire defensive approach was built around stopping Steph, regardless of who else on the Warriors team takes over the scoring load.
"Everything we did from a defensive standpoint was to stop Steph," Haywood said . "Man, we were throwing three guys on Stephen Curry.
Although Curry is best known for his extraordinary shooting rather than his playmaking, he showed Cleveland just how dangerous he could be as an all-around offensive weapon during the 2014-15 regular season.
In one of the Warriors' meetings with the Cavs, Curry recorded 23 points and 10 assists in 35 minutes, leading the Warriors to a convincing 18-point victory.
Curry's overall production throughout the regular season was equally impressive. He averaged 23.8 points per game while shooting 44.3 percent from beyond the arc to win his first MVP award.
Thus, Cleveland understood that containing Steph was essential if they wanted to challenge the Warriors for the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Put simply, Curry's shooting range, ability to create offense off the dribble and movement without the ball became the centerpiece of what the Cavs prioritized containing in the championship round.
Although he dropped a team-high 26 points in the series opener, Curry was far from his most efficient self, shooting 10-of-20 from the field. His struggles became even more pronounced in Game 2, when he shot an abysmal 5-of-23 from the field, including 2-of-15 from long range, and had more turnovers (six) than made field goals.
Then, in Games 4 and 6 combined, Curry shot a combined 7-of-18 from the three-point line. Haywood explained that the Cavs were willing to leave other Warriors players open looks if it meant limiting Curry's opportunities, which shocked him.
"Listen, Steph Curry was such a problem that year, coming down off pin-down actions… we had defensive concepts where it was, 'You're trailing Steph, you're trapping him. You're coming all the way over to take away the lob," Haywood continued. "We were like, 'What about that player on the weak side?' We don't care! We were giving NBA players butt naked wide-open shots in the corner, 'cause we need to have six sets of eyes on Steph."
Cleveland's obsession with Curry inevitably opened the door for other Warriors to make an impact, and Andre Iguodala took full advantage. He scored 22 points in Game 4 and 25 in Game 6 while also making his presence felt defensively.
Iguodala certainly played a major role in Golden State's title run, but Curry still averaged 26.0 points for the series while commanding the bulk of Cleveland's defensive attention. In that sense, the Cavs' game plan worked almost too well: they made stopping Steph such a priority that someone else ended up taking home Finals MVP.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Oct 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
