Steph Curry named SI's Sportsperson of the Year

Curry previously shared the honor in 2018, when Sports Illustrated named the entire Golden State Warriors team as Sportsperson of the Year, calling them "a generational phenomenon, the likes of which we might not see again for decades." Though grammatically questionable, it's still "Sportsperson" even when it's a team award.

That came after the team won its third NBA title in four years, and seemed on its way to a fourth title when Kevin Durant tore his Achilles tendon, and Klay Thompson tore his ACL. But after missing the playoffs two years in a row, the Warriors made it back to the Finals and defeated the Boston Celtics in June.

Curry joins a small group of athletes to have won the award more than once. LeBron James was Sportsperson of the Year in 2012 and 2016. Last year's winner, Tom Brady, won in 2005 as well, 16 years earlier. And Tiger Woods was honored in 1996 and in 2000, when he won three major championships.

Only a few full teams have been chosen: the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, the 1999 US women's soccer team, the 2004 Boston Red Sox and that Warriors squad. Curry is the only one to win as an individual and a team member.

While Curry answered the critics when he won his first Finals MVP award, no one ever claimed that a Sportsperson of the Year award would cement his legacy. But if anyone was keeping him off their personal top ten lists because he hadn't had enough recognition from Sports Illustrated, he's silenced those critics now.