NBA Most Valuable Player

The NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1955–56 season to the best performing player of the regular season. Since the 2022–23 season, winners receive the Michael Jordan Trophy, named after the five-time MVP.

Prior to 2021, the winner received the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which was named in honor of the first commissioner (then president) of the NBA, who served from 1946 until 1963. With the switch to the Michael Jordan Trophy, his name was moved to a new Maurice Podoloff Trophy given to the team with the best regular season record.

Until the , the MVP was selected by a vote of NBA players. Since the , the award is decided by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Each member of the voting panel casts a vote for first to fifth place selections. Each first-place vote is worth 10 points; each second-place vote is worth seven; each third-place vote is worth five, fourth-place is worth three and fifth-place is worth one. Starting from 2010, one ballot was cast by fans through online voting. The player with the highest point total wins the award. As of the , the current holder of the award is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Every player who has won this award and deemed eligible for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has been inducted. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the award a record six times. He is also the only player to win the award despite his team not making the playoffs, in the . Both Bill Russell and Michael Jordan won the award five times, while Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James won the award four times. Russell and James are the only players to have won the award four times in five seasons. Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Nikola Jokić each won the award three times, while Bob Pettit, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Stephen Curry and Giannis Antetokounmpo won it twice. Russell, Chamberlain, and Bird are the only players to win the award in three consecutive years. Only two rookies have won the award: Chamberlain () and Wes Unseld ( 1968–69). Eight players who won MVP (combining for twelve total awards) are considered " international players" by the NBA: Hakeem Olajuwon of Nigeria, Duncan of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Nash of Canada, Dirk Nowitzki of Germany, Antetokounmpo of Greece, Nikola Jokić of Serbia, Joel Embiid of Cameroon, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Canada.

Stephen Curry ( 2015–16) is the only player to have won the award unanimously. Shaquille O'Neal ( 1999–2000) and LeBron James ( 2012–13) are the only two players to have fallen one vote shy of a unanimous selection, both receiving 120 of 121 votes. Since the , only three players have been named MVP for a season in which their team failed to win at least 50 regular season games— Moses Malone (twice, and ), Russell Westbrook () and Nikola Jokić ().Except for seasons affected by lockouts and COVID-19, when the schedule was shortened from the norm of 82 games. Karl Malone won in 1998–99 when Utah was 37–13 in 50 games, which projected to 60 wins in 82 games. James won in 2011–12 when the Miami Heat were 46–20 in 66 games, which projected to 57 wins. Nikola Jokić won in 2020–21 when Denver was 47–25 in 72 games, which projected to 54 wins in 82 games.

As part of efforts to reduce load management for star players in the league, effective with the 2023–24 season, when a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and its players' union took effect, players must appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for most regular-season awards and honors, including MVP. To receive credit for a game for purposes of award eligibility, a player must have been credited with at least 20 minutes played. However, two "near misses", in which the player appeared for 15 to 19 minutes, can be included in the 65-game count. Protections also exist for players who suffer season-ending injuries, who are eligible with 62 credited games, and those affected by what the CBA calls "bad faith circumstances". The games played requirement specifically applies to the MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Most Improved Player awards, as well as the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams.

Winners

Multiple-time winners

Teams

See also

* Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
* NBA Conference Finals Most Valuable Player Award
* NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player Award
* NBA G League Most Valuable Player Award
* NBL (United States) Most Valuable Player Award
* NBA records

Notes

References

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Most Valuable
NBA lists
Awards established in 1956
NBA most valuable player awards
1956 establishments in the United States