MIAMI (AP) – Here’s Stephen Curry’s year in a nutshell. A record 402 3-pointers, all 131 MVP first-place votes, and zero doubt.
The only intrigue surrounding the voting for this year’s NBA MVP wasn’t if the Golden State guard would win again – but if he would get every first-place vote. And he did, becoming the first unanimous winner. LeBron James was one vote from achieving that in 2013, and Shaquille O’Neal was also one vote short in the 2000 balloting.
So Curry enters a club all his own in the NBA, and a very rare club when combining the four prevalent major U.S. pro sports leagues.
Tom Brady is the only unanimous winner of The Associated Press NFL MVP award, getting that in 2010 – three years after falling one short vote of sweeping the balloting. And Wayne Gretzky got all 63 first-place votes for the NHL’s Hart Trophy in 1982, the only person in his sport to get every first-place nod.
Baseball has 17 unanimous MVP picks. The AL has 10, the last Mike Trout in 2014. In the NL, there’s been seven, most recently Bryce Harper last season.