Being the only man in the 74-year history of the NBA to receive every first-place vote in the annual MVP balloting automatically places Stephen Curry among the top 20 players ever.
More to the point, that distinction also gives the Warriors superstar considerable clout in any debate over the best player of the 21st century.
Let’s immediately clarify this much: Curry is among the top three.
Determining the top 20 can inspire spirited, subjective and ultimately inextricable debate. The search for Curry’s place begins by trimming the list to 10, which eliminates 10 terrific players.