NBA Finals Most Valuable Player

The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (formerly known as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1969 NBA Finals. The award is decided by a panel of eleven media members, who cast votes after the conclusion of the Finals. The person with the highest number of votes wins the award.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The award was originally a black trophy with a gold basketball-shaped sphere at the top, similar to the Larry O'Brien Trophy, until a new trophy was introduced in 2005.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Since its inception, the award has been given 55 times to 34 players. Michael Jordan is a record six-time award winner.<ref name="finalsmvp">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> LeBron James has won the award four times in his career, and Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Tim Duncan won three times each. Jordan and O'Neal are the only players to win the award in three consecutive seasons (Jordan accomplished the feat on two occasions). Johnson is the only rookie ever to win the award,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as well as the youngest at 20 years and 276 days old.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1985, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the oldest to win at 38 years and 54 days old.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Andre Iguodala is the only winner to have not started every game in the series.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jerry West, the first awardee (1969), is the only person to win the award while being on the losing team.<ref name="finalsmvp" />

Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,Template:Refn Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kobe Bryant, Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant won the award twice. Olajuwon, Durant, Bryant, and James have won the award in two consecutive seasons. James is the only player to have won the award with three different teams,<ref name=nba_10112020>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while he and Leonard are the only players to have won the award in both conferences.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Johnson, Moses Malone, Durant, and Leonard are the only players to have been named Finals MVP in their first season with a team.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Olajuwon of Nigeria (who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1993), Tony Parker of France, Dirk Nowitzki of Germany, Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece, Nikola Jokić of Serbia, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Canada are the only international players to win the award. Duncan is an American citizen, but is considered an "international" player by the NBA because he was not born in one of the fifty states or Washington, D.C.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Parker, Nowitzki, Antetokounmpo and Jokić are the only winners to have been trained totally outside the U.S.; Olajuwon played college basketball at Houston, Duncan at Wake Forest, and Gilgeous-Alexander at Kentucky. Cedric Maxwell is the only Finals MVP winner eligible for the Hall of Fame who has not been voted in.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On February 14, 2009, during the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, then-NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the award would be renamed the "Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award" in honor of 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Winners

head shot of Jerry West

Jerry West, the inaugural recipient, is the only player to win the award while being on the losing team.

File:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1974.jpeg

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won twice in 1971 and 1985, holds the record for the longest gap between awards

head shot of Magic Johnson

Magic Johnson is the only player to win the award as a rookie.

head shot of Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan has won the award a record six times.

File:Lipofsky Shaquille O'Neal.jpg

Shaquille O'Neal is the only player other than Michael Jordan to have won the award three times consecutively.

File:Tony parker spurs vs wizards cropped.jpg

Tony Parker was the second player born outside the US to win the award, joining Hakeem Olajuwon.

File:LeBron James (15662939969).jpg

LeBron James is the only player to win the award with three different teams.

File:Giannis Antetokounmpo (24845003687) (cropped).jpg

Giannis Antetokounmpo is the first player from Greece to win the award.

File:Nikola Jokic free throw (cropped).jpg

Nikola Jokić is the first player from Serbia to win the award.

^	Denotes player who is still active in the NBA
*	Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
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Template:Double-dagger	Player's team lost the NBA Finals
Player (#)	Denotes the number of times the player had received the Finals MVP award
Team (#)	Denotes the number of times a player from this team has received the Finals MVP award

Year	Player	Position	Nationality	Team
1969	Template:Sortname*	Guard	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers Template:Double-dagger
1970	Template:Sortname*	Center/forward	Template:Flagu	New York Knicks
1971	Template:Sortname*Template:Refn	Center	Template:Flagu	Milwaukee Bucks
1972	Template:Sortname*	Center	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers (2)
1973	Template:Sortname* (2)	Center/forward	Template:Flagu	New York Knicks (2)
1974	Template:Sortname*	Forward/guard	Template:Flagu	Boston Celtics
1975	Template:Sortname*	Forward	Template:Flagu	Golden State Warriors
1976	Template:Sortname*	Guard	Template:Flagu	Boston Celtics (2)
1977	Template:Sortname*	Center	Template:Flagu	Portland Trail Blazers
1978	Template:Sortname*	Center/forward	Template:Flagu	Washington Bullets
1979	Template:Sortname*	Guard	Template:Flagu	Seattle SuperSonics
1980	Template:Sortname*	Guard	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers (3)
1981	Template:Sortname	Forward	Template:Flagu	Boston Celtics (3)
1982	Template:Sortname* (2)	Guard	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers (4)
1983	Template:Sortname*	Center	Template:Flagu	Philadelphia 76ers
1984	Template:Sortname*	Forward	Template:Flagu	Boston Celtics (4)
1985	Template:SortnameTemplate:Refn (2)	Center	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers (5)
1986	Template:Sortname* (2)	Forward	Template:Flagu	Boston Celtics (5)
1987	Template:Sortname* (3)	Guard	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers (6)
1988	Template:Sortname*	Forward	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers (7)
1989	Template:Sortname*	Guard	Template:Flagu	Detroit Pistons
1990	Template:Sortname*	Guard	Template:Flagu	Detroit Pistons (2)
1991	Template:Sortname*	Guard	Template:Flagu	Chicago Bulls
1992	Template:Sortname* (2)	Guard	Template:Flagu	Chicago Bulls (2)
1993	Template:Sortname* (3)	Guard	Template:Flagu	Chicago Bulls (3)
1994	Template:Sortname*	Center	Template:FlaguTemplate:Refn	Houston Rockets
1995	Template:Sortname* (2)	Center	Template:Flagu<ref group=lower-alpha name=note_c />	Houston Rockets (2)
1996	Template:Sortname* (4)	Guard	Template:Flagu	Chicago Bulls (4)
1997	Template:Sortname* (5)	Guard	Template:Flagu	Chicago Bulls (5)
1998	Template:Sortname* (6)	Guard	Template:Flagu	Chicago Bulls (6)
1999	Template:Sortname*	Forward/center	Template:FlaguTemplate:Refn	San Antonio Spurs
2000	Template:Sortname*	Center	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers (8)
2001	Template:Sortname* (2)	Center	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers (9)
2002	Template:Sortname* (3)	Center	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers (10)
2003	Template:Sortname* (2)	Forward/center	Template:Flagu<ref group=lower-alpha name=note_d />	San Antonio Spurs (2)
2004	Template:Sortname*	Guard	Template:Flagu	Detroit Pistons (3)
2005	Template:Sortname* (3)	Forward/center	Template:Flagu<ref group=lower-alpha name=note_d />	San Antonio Spurs (3)
2006	Template:Sortname*	Guard	Template:Flagu	Miami Heat
2007	Template:Sortname*	Guard	Template:FlaguTemplate:Refn	San Antonio Spurs (4)
2008	Template:Sortname*	Forward	Template:Flagu	Boston Celtics (6)
2009	Template:Sortname*	Guard	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers (11)
2010	Template:Sortname* (2)	Guard	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers (12)
2011	Template:Sortname*	Forward	Template:Flagu	Dallas Mavericks
2012	Template:Sortname^	Forward	Template:Flagu	Miami Heat (2)
2013	Template:Sortname^ (2)	Forward	Template:Flagu	Miami Heat (3)
2014	Template:Sortname^	Forward	Template:Flagu	San Antonio Spurs (5)
2015	Template:Sortname§	Forward/guard	Template:Flagu	Golden State Warriors (2)
2016	Template:Sortname^ (3)	Forward	Template:Flagu	Cleveland Cavaliers
2017	Template:Sortname^	Forward	Template:Flagu	Golden State Warriors (3)
2018	Template:Sortname^ (2)	Forward	Template:Flagu	Golden State Warriors (4)
2019	Template:Sortname^ (2)	Forward	Template:Flagu	Toronto Raptors
2020	Template:Sortname^ (4)	Forward	Template:Flagu	Los Angeles Lakers (13)
2021	Template:Sortname^	Forward	Template:Flagu	Milwaukee Bucks (2)
2022	Template:Sortname^	Guard	Template:Flagu	Golden State Warriors (5)
2023	Template:Sortname^	Center	Template:Flagu	Denver Nuggets
2024	Template:Sortname^	Forward/guard	Template:Flagu	Boston Celtics (7)
2025	Template:Sortname^	Guard	Template:Flagu	Oklahoma City Thunder (2)

Multi-time winners

Awards	Player	Team(s)	Years
6	Template:Flagicon Template:Sortname	Chicago Bulls	1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998
4	Template:Flagicon Template:Sortname	Miami Heat (2), Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers	2012, 2013, 2016, 2020
3	Template:Flagicon Template:Sortname	Los Angeles Lakers	1980, 1982, 1987
	Template:Flagicon Template:Sortname		2000, 2001, 2002
	Template:Flagicon Template:Sortname	San Antonio Spurs	1999, 2003, 2005
2	Template:Flagicon Template:Sortname	New York Knicks	1970, 1973
	Template:Flagicon Template:Sortname	Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers	1971, 1985
	Template:Flagicon Template:Sortname	Boston Celtics	1984, 1986
	Template:Flagicon Template:Sortname	Houston Rockets	1994, 1995
	Template:Flagicon Template:Sortname	Los Angeles Lakers	2009, 2010
	Template:Flagicon Template:Sortname	Golden State Warriors	2017, 2018
	Template:Flagicon Template:Sortname	San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors	2014, 2019

Teams

Awards	Teams	Years
13	Los Angeles Lakers	Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay
7	Boston Celtics	Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay
6	Chicago Bulls	Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay
5	San Antonio Spurs	Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay
	Golden State Warriors	Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay
3	Detroit Pistons	Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay
	Miami Heat	Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay
2	New York Knicks	Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay
	Houston Rockets	Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay
	Milwaukee Bucks	Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay
	Oklahoma City ThunderTemplate:Efn-lr	Template:Nbay, Template:Nbay
1	Portland Trail Blazers	Template:Nbay
	Washington Bullets	Template:Nbay
	Philadelphia 76ers	Template:Nbay
	Dallas Mavericks	Template:Nbay
	Cleveland Cavaliers	Template:Nbay
	Toronto Raptors	Template:Nbay
	Denver Nuggets	Template:Nbay
0	Atlanta Hawks	None
	Brooklyn Nets
	Charlotte Hornets
	Indiana Pacers
	Los Angeles Clippers
	Memphis Grizzlies
	Minnesota Timberwolves
	New Orleans Pelicans
	Orlando Magic
	Phoenix Suns
	Sacramento Kings
	Utah Jazz

See also

• NBA Most Valuable Player Award
• NBA Conference Finals Most Valuable Player Award
• NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player Award

References

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