Was Steph Curry Ever the NBA's Best Player?

Actually yes. This isn't the classic "question" headline where it's a fake statement

There was a dust-up over the weekend between two people I’m positively disposed towards: Bill Simmons (who needs no introduction) and Tommy Gunn of the Light Years Podcast.

This is a classic type of Twitter interaction where one guy glibly insults a higher‑status figure, assuming (I’m guessing) the more famous person won’t see it or respond. But let’s set aside those dynamics because I’d actually prefer to discuss the actual point of contention. Bill Simmons floats the idea that Steph Curry is one of the greatest players to never, at any point, officially hold the mantle of “best player in the league.” Most people would agree with Bill, just as a matter of historical record. One (of a few) reasons I wouldn’t, as Tommy does, call Bill an “idiot” and accuse him of having dementia is that this is an obviously reasonable sports opinion! And yet I wonder, for the purpose of this post…was Steph Curry ever truly the NBA’s best player at some point?