National Basketball Association Finals Most Valuable Player Award
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The National Basketball Association Finals Most Valuable Player Award is presented to the National Basketball Association (NBA) player in the NBA Finals that is seen as contributing the most to his team in the series. The award typically goes to a player on the winning team, though when it was originally awarded to Jerry West in 1969, West's Lakers team had come up short against the Boston Celtics. This would be the only year (as of 2006) that the award went to a player whose team did not win the championship. Michael Jordan has won the award 6 times to lead all players. Other multiple winners include Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Tim Duncan who each won it 3 times, and Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (the former Lew Alcindor), Larry Bird, and Hakeem Olajuwon who each won it twice. Magic Johnson is the youngest player and only rookie to be named the NBA Finals MVP at the age of 20 years old in the 1980 NBA Finals. Until 2004, it was a black trophy with a gold basketball-shaped sphere at the top, very similar to the Larry O'Brien trophy, until a smaller trophy was introduced in 2004, when the award was presented to Chauncey Billups. The current trophy holder is Dwyane Wade.
- 1969 -- Jerry West, Los Angeles Lakers-(1)
- 1970 -- Willis Reed, New York Knicks-(1)
- 1971 -- Lew Alcindor, Milwaukee Bucks-(1)
- 1972 -- Wilt Chamberlain, Los Angeles Lakers-(1)
- 1973 -- Willis Reed, New York Knicks-(2)
- 1974 -- John Havlicek, Boston Celtics-(1)
- 1975 -- Rick Barry, Golden State Warriors-(1)
- 1976 -- Jo Jo White, Boston Celtics-(1)
- 1977 -- Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers-(1)
- 1978 -- Wes Unseld, Washington Bullets-(1)
- 1979 -- Dennis Johnson, Seattle SuperSonics-(1)
- 1980 -- Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers-(1)
- 1981 -- Cedric Maxwell, Boston Celtics-(1)
- 1982 -- Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers-(2)
- 1983 -- Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers-(1)
- 1984 -- Larry Bird, Boston Celtics-(1)
- 1985 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (the former Lew Alcindor), Los Angeles Lakers-(2)
- 1986 -- Larry Bird, Boston Celtics-(2)
- 1987 -- Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers-(3)
- 1988 -- James Worthy, Los Angeles Lakers-(1)
- 1989 -- Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons-(1)
- 1990 -- Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons-(1)
- 1991 -- Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls-(1)
- 1992 -- Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls-(2)
- 1993 -- Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls-(3)
- 1994 -- Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets-(1)
- 1995 -- Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets-(2)
- 1996 -- Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls-(4)
- 1997 -- Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls-(5)
- 1998 -- Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls-(6)
- 1999 -- Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs-(1)
- 2000 -- Shaquille O'Neal, Los Angeles Lakers-(1)
- 2001 -- Shaquille O'Neal, Los Angeles Lakers-(2)
- 2002 -- Shaquille O'Neal, Los Angeles Lakers-(3)
- 2003 -- Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs-(2)
- 2004 -- Chauncey Billups, Detroit Pistons-(1)
- 2005 -- Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs-(3)
- 2006 -- Dwayne Wade, Miami Heat-(1)
