Stephen Curry becomes fourth NBA player ever to win AP Male Athlete of the Year

Stephen Curry is not universally considered the best player in the NBA — or even a point guard, depending on who you talk to — but nobody can deny his accomplishments in 2015.

All the Golden State Warriors star has done this year is win the 2015 NBA MVP award, lead his team to a NBA championship, lead his team to the best start to the season in U.S. professional sports history, and break his own 3-point shooting record among his list of many accomplishments big and small.

For his modest efforts, the AP has named Curry Male Athlete of the Year, beating out golfer Jordan Spieth and horse American Pharoah, who actually got more first place votes according to the AP.

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.

Most noteworthy when considering his ever-growing legacy, is that Curry is just the fourth NBA player in the 85-year history of the award to win it joining Larry Bird (1986), Michael Jordan (1991, 1992, 1993), and current rival LeBron James (2013).

Only basketball players to win AP Male Athlete of the Year: Steph Curry LeBron James Michael Jordan Larry Bird pic.twitter.com/BqRNkZSjhL

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 26, 2015

Curry was also named Sports Illustrated's 2015 NBA Player of the Year after losing out on the Sportsperson of the Year award to Serena Williams, who also won the AP Female Athlete of the Year.

Meeting the standard Jordan has set for basketball players would be an incredible feat, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to deny Curry his place in the conversation with all of the rare accolades he's racking up.