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".

Winners

Team (#)	Denotes the number of times a player from this team had won at that time

Season	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	*		*	*	* (2)	*		* (2)		* (3)		* (4)	*		* (5)	* (2)		* (3)	* (4)	*	*		*	* (2)	*	* (3)	*	* (4)	* (5)	*	*	* (6)	*	* (2)		* (3)		*	* (2)		* (3)		*	*	* (2)	* (3)		* (2)		* (3)	*		*	*		* (4)	*		* (5)	* (2)		*	*	*		* (2)	*	*	* (2)	*	*	^	^ (2)	†		^ (3)		^ (4)	^		^	^ (2)	^	^	^	^ (2)	^	^ (2)	^	^ (3)		^
	Power forward	United States	St. Louis Hawks
Point guard	United States	Boston Celtics
	Center	United States	Boston Celtics (2)
	Power forward	United States	St. Louis Hawks (2)
	Center	United States	Philadelphia Warriors
Center	United States	Boston Celtics (3)
Center	United States	Boston Celtics (4)
Center	United States	Boston Celtics (5)
	Point guard	United States	Cincinnati Royals
Center	United States	Boston Celtics (6)
	Center	United States	Philadelphia 76ers
Center	United States	Philadelphia 76ers (2)
	Center	United States	Philadelphia 76ers (3)
	Center	United States	Baltimore Bullets
	Center	United States	New York Knicks
Center	United States	Milwaukee Bucks
	Center	United States	Milwaukee Bucks (2)
	Center	United States	Boston Celtics (7)
	Center	United States	Milwaukee Bucks (3)
	Center	United States	Buffalo Braves
	Center	United States	Los Angeles Lakers
	Center	United States	Los Angeles Lakers (2)
	Center	United States	Portland Trail Blazers
	Center	United States	Houston Rockets
	Center	United States	Los Angeles Lakers (3)
	Small forward	United States	Philadelphia 76ers (4)
	Center	United States	Houston Rockets (2)
Center	United States	Philadelphia 76ers (5)
Small forward	United States	Boston Celtics (8)
	Small forward	United States	Boston Celtics (9)
Small forward	United States
Point guard	United States	Los Angeles Lakers (4)
	Shooting guard	United States	Chicago Bulls
	Point guard	United States	Los Angeles Lakers (5)
	Point guard	United States	Los Angeles Lakers (6)
Shooting guard	United States	Chicago Bulls (2)
Shooting guard	United States	Chicago Bulls (3)
	Power forward	United States	Phoenix Suns
Center		Houston Rockets (3)
	Center	United States	San Antonio Spurs
Shooting guard	United States	Chicago Bulls (4)
	Power forward	United States	Utah Jazz
Shooting guard	United States	Chicago Bulls (5)
	Power forward	United States	Utah Jazz (2)
Center	United States	Los Angeles Lakers (7)
	Shooting guard	United States	Philadelphia 76ers (6)
	Power forward	United States	San Antonio Spurs (2)
Power forward	United States	San Antonio Spurs (3)
	Power forward	United States	Minnesota Timberwolves
	Point guard		Phoenix Suns (2)
	Point guard	Canada	Phoenix Suns (3)
	Power forward		Dallas Mavericks
	Shooting guard	United States	Los Angeles Lakers (8)
	Small forward	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers
	Small forward	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers (2)
	Point guard	United States	Chicago Bulls (6)
Small forward	United States	Miami Heat
Small forward	United States	Miami Heat (2)
	Small forward	United States	Oklahoma City Thunder
Point guard	United States	Golden State Warriors (2)
	Point guard	United States	Golden State Warriors (3)
	Point guard	United States	Oklahoma City Thunder (2)
	Shooting guard	United States	Houston Rockets (4)
	Power forward		Milwaukee Bucks (4)
	Power forward	Greece	Milwaukee Bucks (5)
	Center		Denver Nuggets
	Center	Serbia	Denver Nuggets (2)
	Center		Philadelphia 76ers (7)
	Center	Serbia	Denver Nuggets (3)
Point guard	Canada	Oklahoma City Thunder (3)