While the athletes who play in the NBA are among the upper echelon, there are still those who stand above the rest. The NBA honors these players by naming the best players of the week in the Eastern and Western conferences respectively. Jimmy Butler was named the best player in the east for the week of January 2 to 8, whilst Stephen Curry was deemed the best player in the west.
Butler has been the driving force of an injury-stricken Chicago Bulls team this season. He played a big part in the Bulls being undefeated for the week, finishing with a 3-0 record.
Butler averaged 38.0 points - making him the week's league leader in scoring -as well as 9.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists. He almost matched his career high of 53 points, scoring 52 against the Charlotte Hornets. He was the first player to score 50 points or more in a single game in the Bulls' home turf since Michael Jordan in April 1997, according to the NBA.
Butler is no one hit wonder though, as he capped off the week with an impressive 42-point outing against the Toronto Raptors. His impressive shooting helped the Bulls edge out the Raptors in a 123-118 win in overtime.
Curry on the other hand, led a stacked Warriors team to a 3-1 record for the week. Their only loss came during a hard-fought matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies. He averaged 31.8 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.5 rebounds in the four games the Warriors had in the past week.
While these averages were lower compared to his MVP campaign last year, Curry has laughed off the notion that he has been in a slump as of late, Fox Sports reported. Proving that he is prolific as ever, he scored at least 30 points in three of the Warriors' four contests for the week.
In fact, Curry scored 40 points or more for the second time this season, as he managed a 40-point game in the previously mentioned loss against the Grizzlies. This performance also saw him become only the seventh player in Warriors history to score 12,000 or more points in the league.
Watch some of the highlights of Curry's 2015-2016 league MVP season here: