NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award


The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award is an annual National Basketball Association 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 to commemorate Bill Russell.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 31 players. Michael Jordan is a record six-time award winner. Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan and LeBron James won the award three times in their careers. Jordan and O'Neal are the only players to win the award in three consecutive seasons. Johnson is the only rookie ever to win the award, as well as the youngest at 20 years old. Andre Iguodala is the only winner to have not started every game in the series. Jerry West, the first-ever awardee, is the only person to win the award while being on the losing team in the NBA Finals. Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 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. Abdul-Jabbar, James and Leonard are the only players to win the award for two teams, while Leonard is the only player to have won the award in both conferences. Olajuwon of Nigeria, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1993, Tony Parker of France, and Dirk Nowitzki of Germany 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 and Nowitzki are the only winners to have been trained totally outside the U.S.; Olajuwon played college basketball at Houston and Duncan at Wake Forest. Cedric Maxwell and Chauncey Billups are the only Finals MVP winners 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

^Denotes player who is still active in the NBA
*Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
§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

YearPlayerPositionNationalityTeam
1969*GuardUnited StatesLos Angeles Lakers §
1970*Center/ForwardUnited StatesNew York Knicks
1971*CenterUnited StatesMilwaukee Bucks
1972*CenterUnited StatesLos Angeles Lakers
1973* Center/ForwardUnited StatesNew York Knicks
1974*Forward/GuardUnited StatesBoston Celtics
1975*ForwardUnited StatesGolden State Warriors
1976*GuardUnited StatesBoston Celtics
1977*CenterUnited StatesPortland Trail Blazers
1978*Center/ForwardUnited StatesWashington Bullets
1979*GuardUnited StatesSeattle SuperSonics
1980*GuardUnited StatesLos Angeles Lakers
1981ForwardUnited StatesBoston Celtics
1982* GuardUnited StatesLos Angeles Lakers
1983*CenterUnited StatesPhiladelphia 76ers
1984*ForwardUnited StatesBoston Celtics
1985* CenterUnited StatesLos Angeles Lakers
1986* ForwardUnited StatesBoston Celtics
1987* GuardUnited StatesLos Angeles Lakers
1988*ForwardUnited StatesLos Angeles Lakers
1989*GuardUnited StatesDetroit Pistons
1990*GuardUnited StatesDetroit Pistons
1991*GuardUnited StatesChicago Bulls
1992* GuardUnited StatesChicago Bulls
1993* GuardUnited StatesChicago Bulls
1994*CenterNigeriaHouston Rockets
1995* CenterNigeriaHouston Rockets
1996* GuardUnited StatesChicago Bulls
1997* GuardUnited StatesChicago Bulls
1998* GuardUnited StatesChicago Bulls
1999*Forward/CenterUnited StatesSan Antonio Spurs
2000*CenterUnited StatesLos Angeles Lakers
2001* CenterUnited StatesLos Angeles Lakers
2002* CenterUnited StatesLos Angeles Lakers
2003* Forward/CenterUnited StatesSan Antonio Spurs
2004GuardUnited StatesDetroit Pistons
2005* Forward/CenterUnited StatesSan Antonio Spurs
2006GuardUnited StatesMiami Heat
2007GuardFranceSan Antonio Spurs
2008ForwardUnited StatesBoston Celtics
2009*GuardUnited StatesLos Angeles Lakers
2010* GuardUnited StatesLos Angeles Lakers
2011ForwardGermanyDallas Mavericks
2012^ForwardUnited StatesMiami Heat
2013^ ForwardUnited StatesMiami Heat
2014^ForwardUnited StatesSan Antonio Spurs
2015^Forward/GuardUnited StatesGolden State Warriors
2016^ ForwardUnited StatesCleveland Cavaliers
2017^ForwardUnited StatesGolden State Warriors
2018^ ForwardUnited StatesGolden State Warriors
2019^ ForwardUnited StatesToronto Raptors

Multi-time winners