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. 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.

Since its inception, the award has been given 55 times to 34 players. Michael Jordan is a record six-time award winner. 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, as well as the youngest at 20 years and 276 days old. In 1985, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the oldest to win at 38 years and 54 days old. Andre Iguodala is the only winner to have not started every game in the series. Jerry West, the first awardee (1969), is the only person to win the award while being on the losing team. while he and Leonard are the only players to have won the award in both conferences. Johnson, Moses Malone, Durant, and Leonard are the only players to have been named Finals MVP in their first season with a team. 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. 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.

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.

Winners

thumb|upright|[[Jerry West, the inaugural recipient, is the only player to win the award while being on the losing team.|alt=head shot of Jerry West]]

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

alt=head shot of Magic Johnson|thumb|277x277px|[[Magic Johnson is the only player to win the award as a rookie.]]

alt=head shot of Michael Jordan|thumb|238x238px|[[Michael Jordan has won the award a record six times.]]

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

thumb|upright|[[Tony Parker was the second player born outside the US to win the award, joining Hakeem Olajuwon.]]

thumb|upright|[[LeBron James is the only player to win the award with three different teams.]]

thumb|upright|[[Giannis Antetokounmpo is the first player from Greece to win the award.]]

thumb|upright|[[Nikola Jokić is the first player from Serbia to win the award.]]

thumb|upright|[[Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the first player from Canada to win the award.]]

{| class="wikitable"

| style="background-color:#CFECEC; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em"| ^

|Denotes player who is still active in the NBA

| style="background-color:#FFFF99; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em"| *

|Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame<!--

|style="background:#CCFF99; width:1em"|†

|Not yet eligible for Hall of Fame consideration-->

|style="background:#F0E130; width:1em"|§

|1st time eligible for Hall of Fame in 2026

| style="background-color:#FFBBBB; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em"|

|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

|PPG

|Points per game

|RPG

|Rebounds per game

|APG

|Assists per game

|FG%

|Field goal percentage

|FT%

|Free throw percentage

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" summary="Year (sortable), Player (sortable), Position (sortable), Place of birth (sortable) and Team (sortable)"

!scope="col"| Year

!scope="col"| Player

!scope="col"| Position

!scope="col"| Nationality

!scope="col"| Team

!PPG

!RPG

!APG

!FG%

!FT%

|1969

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Guard

| bgcolor="#ffbbbb"|Los Angeles Lakers

|37.9

|4.7

|7.4

|.490

|.839

|1970

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Center/forward

| New York Knicks

|23.0

|10.5

|2.8

|.484

|.588

|1971

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Center

| Milwaukee Bucks

|27.0

|18.5

|2.8

|.605

|.762

|1972

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Center

| Los Angeles Lakers (2)

|19.4

|23.2

|2.6

|.600

|.543

|1973

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (2)

| Center/forward

| New York Knicks (2)

|16.4

|9.2

|2.6

|.493

|.889

|1974

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Forward/guard

| Boston Celtics

|26.4

|7.7

|4.7

|.429

|.872

|1975

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Forward

| Golden State Warriors

|29.5

|4.0

|5.0

|.444

|.938

|1976

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Guard

| Boston Celtics (2)

|21.7

|4.3

|5.8

|.439

|.878

|1977

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Center

| Portland Trail Blazers

|18.5

|19.0

|5.2

|.545

|.789

|1978

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Center/forward

| Washington Bullets

|9.0

|11.7

|3.9

|.520

|.550

|1979

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Guard

| Seattle SuperSonics

|22.6

|6.0

|.459

|.719

|1980

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Guard

| Los Angeles Lakers (3)

|21.5

|11.2

|8.7

|.573

|.875

|1981

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"|

| Forward

| Boston Celtics (3)

|17.7

|9.5

|2.8

|.568

|.759

|1982

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (2)

| Guard

| Los Angeles Lakers (4)

|16.2

|10.8

|8.0

|.533

|.846

|1983

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Center

| Philadelphia 76ers

|25.8

|18.0

|2.0

|.507

|.660

|1984

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Forward

| Boston Celtics (4)

|27.4

|14.0

|3.6

|.484

|.842

|1985

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| (2)

| Center

| Los Angeles Lakers (5)

|25.7

|9.0

|5.2

|.604

|.769

|1986

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (2)

| Forward

| Boston Celtics (5)

|24.0

|9.7

|9.5

|.482

|.939

|1987

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (3)

| Guard

| Los Angeles Lakers (6)

|26.2

|8.0

|13.0

|.541

|.960

|1988

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Forward

| Los Angeles Lakers (7)

|22.0

|7.4

|4.4

|.492

|.735

|1989

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Guard

| Detroit Pistons

|27.3

|1.8

|6.0

|.576

|.868

|1990

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Guard

| Detroit Pistons (2)

|27.6

|5.2

|7.0

|.542

|.742

|1991

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Guard

| Chicago Bulls

|31.2

|6.6

|11.4

|.558

|.848

|1992

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (2)

| Guard

| Chicago Bulls (2)

|35.8

|4.8

|6.5

|.526

|.891

|1993

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (3)

| Guard

| Chicago Bulls (3)

|41.0

|8.5

|6.3

|.508

|.694

|1994

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Center

| Houston Rockets

|26.9

|9.1

|3.6

|.500

|.860

|1995

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (2)

| Center

| he was able to play for the U.S. internationally.|group=lower-alpha|name=note_d

| San Antonio Spurs

|27.4

|14.0

|2.4

|.537

|.795

|2000

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Center

| Los Angeles Lakers (8)

|38.0

|16.7

|2.3

|.611

|.387

|2001

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (2)

| Center

| Los Angeles Lakers (9)

|33.0

|15.8

|4.8

|.573

|.513

|2002

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (3)

| Center

| Los Angeles Lakers (10)

|36.3

|12.3

|3.8

|.595

|.662

|2003

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (2)

| Forward/center

| |group=lower-alpha

| San Antonio Spurs (4)

|24.5

|5.0

|3.3

|.568

|.526

|2008

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Forward

| Boston Celtics (6)

|21.8

|4.5

|6.3

|.432

|.830

|2009

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Guard

| Los Angeles Lakers (11)

|32.4

|5.6

|7.4

|.430

|.841

|2010

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (2)

| Guard

| Los Angeles Lakers (12)

|28.6

|8.0

|3.9

|.405

|.883

|2011

| !scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *

| Forward

| Dallas Mavericks

|26.0

|9.7

|2.0

|.416

|.978

|2012

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^

| Forward

| Miami Heat (2)

|28.6

|10.2

|7.4

|.472

|.826

|2013

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^ (2)

| Forward

| Miami Heat (3)

|25.3

|10.9

|7.0

|.447

|.795

|2014

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^

| Forward

| San Antonio Spurs (5)

|17.8

|6.4

|2.0

|.612

|.783

|2015

| style="background:#F0E130| <sup>§</sup>

| Forward/guard

| Golden State Warriors (2)

|16.3

|5.8

|4.0

|.521

|.357

|2016

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^ (3)

| Forward

| Cleveland Cavaliers

|29.7

|11.3

|8.9

|.494

|.721

|2017

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^

| Forward

| Golden State Warriors (3)

|35.2

|8.2

|5.4

|.556

|.927

|2018

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^ (2)

| Forward

| Golden State Warriors (4)

|28.8

|10.8

|7.5

|.526

|.963

|2019

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^ (2)

| Forward

| Toronto Raptors

|28.5

|9.8

|4.2

|.434

|.906

|2020

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^ (4)

| Forward

| Los Angeles Lakers (13)

|29.8

|11.8

|8.5

|.591

|.667

|2021

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^

| Forward

| Milwaukee Bucks (2)

|35.2

|13.2

|5.0

|.618

|.659

|2022

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^

| Guard

| Golden State Warriors (5)

|31.2

|6.0

|5.0

|.482

|.857

|2023

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^

| Center

| Denver Nuggets

|30.2

|14.0

|7.2

|.583

|.838

|2024

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^

| Forward/guard

| Boston Celtics (7)

|20.8

|5.4

|5.0

|.440

|.733

|2025

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^

| Guard

| Oklahoma City Thunder (2)

|30.3

|4.6

|5.6

|.443

|.914

Multi-time winners

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!Awards

!Player!!Team(s)!!Years

| ||Chicago Bulls||1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998

| 4

| ||Miami Heat (2), Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers || 2012, 2013, 2016, 2020

| rowspan="3" |3

| || rowspan="2" | Los Angeles Lakers || 1980, 1982, 1987

| || 2000, 2001, 2002

| || San Antonio Spurs || 1999, 2003, 2005

| rowspan="7" |2

| || New York Knicks || 1970, 1973

| || Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers || 1971, 1985

| || Boston Celtics || 1984, 1986

| || Houston Rockets ||1994, 1995

| || Los Angeles Lakers || 2009, 2010

| || Golden State Warriors || 2017, 2018

| || San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors || 2014, 2019

Teams

{| class="wikitable"

!Awards !!Teams !!Years

|13

|Los Angeles Lakers

|, , , , , , , , , , , ,

|Boston Celtics

|, , , , , ,

|Chicago Bulls

|, , , , ,

|rowspan=2|5

|San Antonio Spurs

|, , , ,

|Golden State Warriors

|, , , ,

|rowspan=2|3

|Detroit Pistons

|, ,

|Miami Heat

|, ,

|rowspan=4|2

|New York Knicks

|Houston Rockets

|Milwaukee Bucks

|Oklahoma City Thunder

|rowspan=7|1

|Portland Trail Blazers

|Washington Bullets

|Philadelphia 76ers

|Dallas Mavericks

|Cleveland Cavaliers

|Toronto Raptors

|Denver Nuggets

| rowspan="12" |0

|Atlanta Hawks

| rowspan="12" |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

Notes

References

Specific

General

Winners

Multi-time winners

Teams

See also

Notes

References