The 2015-16 season saw Stephen Curry lead the Golden State Warriors to a historic 73-9 regular season record, surpassing the Chicago Bulls' 1995-96 record of 72-10. 

Additionally, Curry became the league's scoring champion with an average of 30.1 points per game, ranked first in the league with 2.1 steals per game, and hit an incredible 402 three-pointers with a 45.4% shooting rate from beyond the arc. 

Curry's exceptional performance earned him the first-ever unanimous MVP award, as all 121 MVP voters selected him as their first choice.

Before Curry, two players were incredibly close to earning a unanimous MVP. They were Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 and LeBron James in 2013. So, who took away that one vote from them?

The Shortest No. 1 Pick "Blocked" Shaq's Perfect MVP Season

Shaquille O'Neal had an outstanding career, finishing in the top ten MVP voting every season from his rookie year through 2004-05. During the 1994-95 season, O'Neal was the league's scoring leader, but he finished second in MVP voting, losing to another member of the "Four Great Centers" — David Robinson.

By the 1999-00 season, O'Neal had fully matured as a player and dominated on both ends of the court. He averaged 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 3 steals per game, with a PER of 30.6 (league-best) and OBPM of 7.3 (also first in the league). His efforts helped the Lakers achieve a league-best 67-15 record, and he deservedly earned the majority of MVP votes.

However, O'Neal was denied a unanimous MVP by just one vote. In 2000, that lone vote went to Allen Iverson, who was having a standout season for the Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 28.4 points per game along with 3.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists. Iverson single-handedly led the 76ers to a 49-33 record and secured the fourth seed in the East. The journalist who voted for Iverson explained that without Iverson, the 76ers would have been a bottom-tier team, whereas the Lakers would still have been great without O'Neal.

LeBron James' Old Friend Took His MVP Vote in 2013

In the 2012-13 season, LeBron James was at the peak of his career, having already won three MVPs in the previous four seasons. He was a versatile player who excelled on both ends of the court. James' Miami Heat team dominated the regular season, finishing with a 66-16 record, including a historic 27-game winning streak.

James himself averaged 26.8 points, 8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 1.7 steals, shooting 56.5% from the field and 40.6% from three-point range. He led the league in PER (31.6), win shares (19.3), and OBPM (9.3). Despite these incredible numbers, James lost the unanimous MVP by just one vote. 

That single vote went to his old friend Carmelo Anthony, who won the league's scoring title with an average of 28.7 points per game. Anthony also led the New York Knicks to a 54-28 record, the second-best in the Eastern Conference.

LeBron James, who knew the missing vote went to Anthony, mentioned it in 2020, recalling that the vote came from a Boston-based journalist. Though James fell short of a unanimous MVP, he couldn’t help but watch Curry, who hails from his hometown of Akron, make history with the first-ever unanimous MVP.