TheBill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (formerly known as theNBA Finals Most Valuable Player) is an annualNational Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the1969 NBA Finals. The award is decided by a panel of eleven media members, who cast votes after the conclusion of theFinals. The person with the highest number of votes wins the award.[1] The award was originally a black trophy with a gold basketball-shaped sphere at the top, similar to theLarry O'Brien Trophy, until a new trophy was introduced in2005.[2][3]
Since its inception, the award has been given 55 times to 34 players.Michael Jordan is a record six-time award winner.[4]LeBron James has won the award four times in his career, andMagic Johnson,Shaquille O'Neal, andTim 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,[5] as well as the youngest at 20 years and 276 days old.[6][7] In1985,Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the oldest to win at 38 years and 54 days old.[8]Andre Iguodala is the only winner to have not started every game in the series.[9]Jerry West, the first awardee (1969), is the only person to win the award while being on the losing team.[4]
Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,[a]Larry Bird,Hakeem Olajuwon,Kobe Bryant,Kawhi Leonard andKevin 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,[10] while he and Leonard are the only players to have won the award in both conferences.[11] Johnson,Moses Malone, Durant, and Leonard are the only players to have been named Finals MVP in their first season with a team.[12] Olajuwon ofNigeria (who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1993),Tony Parker ofFrance,Dirk Nowitzki ofGermany,Giannis Antetokounmpo ofGreece,Nikola Jokić ofSerbia, andShai Gilgeous-Alexander ofCanada 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.[13] Parker, Nowitzki, Antetokounmpo and Jokić are the only winners to have been trained totally outside the U.S.; Olajuwon playedcollege basketball atHouston, Duncan atWake Forest, and Gilgeous-Alexander atKentucky.Cedric Maxwell is the only Finals MVP winner eligible for theHall of Fame who has not been voted in.[14]
Jerry West, the inaugural recipient, is the only player to win the award while being on the losing team.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won twice in 1971 and 1985, holds the record for the longest gap between awardsMagic Johnson is the only player to win the award as a rookie.Michael Jordan has won the award a record six times.Shaquille O'Neal is the only player other than Michael Jordan to have won the award three times consecutively.Tony Parker was the second player born outside the US to win the award, joining Hakeem Olajuwon.LeBron James is the only player to win the award with three different teams.Giannis Antetokounmpo is the first player fromGreece to win the award.Nikola Jokić is the first player fromSerbia to win the award.
^abcBefore the 1971–72 season, Lew Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[17]
^abHakeem Olajuwon was born inNigeria, but became a naturalized United States citizen in 1993.[18]
^abcBecause Tim Duncan is a United States citizen by birth, as are all natives of the U.S. Virgin Islands,[19] he was able to play for the U.S. internationally.[20]
^Tony Parker was born in Belgium. He holds French citizenship and plays fortheir national team.[21]
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