Following a breakout season that earned him his first NBA MVP trophy, Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry is America's favorite NBA player,according to Public Policy Polling.
PPP surveyed 1,471 registered voters between May 7 and May 10, less than a week after Curry took home the league's top individual award. The results are to the right.
Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki andChris Paul each earned 5 percent or less of the total votes, while 12 percent answered "Someone else/Not sure."
PPP noted the margin of error was +/- 2.6 percent, which is actually really important, as Curry only edged James by 1 percentage point. That means it's statistically possible, though not especially likely, that James is slightly more popular than Curry.
What isn't surprising is that the four-time MVP James is more polarizing than Curry, who is relative newcomer to NBA superstardom. A larger percentage of men and women found James both favorable and unfavorable than Curry, who himself earned a larger share of "Not sure" votes. Generally speaking, across party lines, more Democrats supported Curry and the Warriors, while more Republicans supported James and the Cavaliers.
In maybe the poll's most surprising finding, one-third of Americans actually believe Michael Jordan could still beat LeBron in a game of one-on-one right now, in the year 2015.
Meanwhile, behind a 3-shooting, exciting offense, Curry's Warriors are also America's choice to win this year's NBA championship.
The Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards each earned 5 percent or less of the total votes.
Overall, 37 percent of Americans identified as NBA fans, putting the sport third behind the NFL (56) and MLB (46).
