NBA MVP Stephen Curry wins AP Male Athlete of Year
OAKLAND, Calif. - Stephen Curry, whose deft dribbling and long-range shooting led the Golden State Warriors to their first NBA title in 40 years, is The Associated Press 2015 Male Athlete of the Year.
Curry finished first in a vote by U.S. editors and news directors, joining LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird as the only basketball players to win the honor in the 85 years of the award. Curry beat out golfer Jordan Spieth, who won two majors, and American Pharoah, who became the first horse since 1978 to win the Triple Crown.
"The way that I play has a lot of skill but is stuff that if you go to the YMCA or rec leagues or church leagues around the country, everybody wants to shoot, everybody wants to handle the ball, make creative passes and stuff like that," Curry said. "You can work on that stuff. Not everybody has the vertical, or the physical gifts to be able to go out and do a windmill dunk and stuff like that. I can't even do it."
Curry won the league MVP last season when he helped the Warriors topple LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals and then led Golden State to a record 24 straight wins to open this season.
"That's a real honor," Curry added. "I'm appreciative of that acknowledgement because it's across all different sports. ... It's pretty cool."
- With files from theScore