NBA MVP Curry shoots way to AP male athlete of year

Stephen Curry has an amazing year, in which he won an MVP, led Golden State to its first title in 40 years and helped the Warriors get off to a record-setting start this season. All these achievements earned him The Associated Press 2015 Male Athlete of the Year.

Curry finished first in a vote by U.S. editors and news directors, with the results released Saturday. He joined 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.

While American Pharoah got three more first-place votes than Curry's 24, Curry appeared on 86 percent of the 82 ballots that ranked the top five candidates. More than one-third of the voters left American Pharoah off their list.

Stephen Curry's greatness as a basketball player can be measured by his record-setting shooting numbers that are changing the game.

While many NBA greats rely on uncommon height and athletic ability that average fans can only dream of having, Curry's game relies on the traits that every casual player can work on: shoot, dribble and pass.

The difference is, perhaps nobody ever has put those three skills together the same way Curry has the past year as he has dominated on the court and made the once downtrodden Golden State Warriors the NBA's must-watch team.

Curry has become the face of the NBA the past year. His jersey is the best-seller in the league, his team's games get record television ratings at home and in opposing markets and even his 3-year-old daughter Riley became a star by overshadowing her dad at playoff news conferences.

Curry has improved his scoring from 23.8 points per game to 30.8 - the biggest one-year jump ever by an MVP. Endi