Who won the NBA Finals MVP 2023? Player, team, and more

With the NBA Finals over, many are wondering, "Who won the NBA Finals MVP 2023?"

After the Denver Nuggets' Game 5 win over the Miami Heat at the Ball Arena, Nikola Jokic was presented with the 2023 Bill Russell Finals MVP trophy. Had he won the regular-season MVP as well, it would have put him as one of the few men to have won MVP, a championship and a Finals MVP the same season.

Of course, as Jokic stated, he believed that Joel Embiid deserved to win the MVP award, and harbored no resentment over the situation. This year also marked the first time that Hall of Famer Bill Russell wasn't alive to appear onstage at the finals for the trophy presentation.

Despite that, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made sure to pay tribute to Russell while presenting the award to Jokic.

As Hall of Famer, and 1990 Finals MVP Isiah Thomas told ESPN, Jokic's dominance in the finals is unprecedented:

"It puts him in the legendary category for what he's done statistically in the finals. I don't know if there's anyone who's ever had a statistical run in the NBA Finals as a center as he had in these categories."

2023 NBA Finals - Game Four

Looking at who has who won the NBA Finals MVP the most times

Given the recent win of Nikola Jokic, let's take a look at other players who won the NBA Finals MVP the most times. Since the award's inception, it has been presented 54 times to 33 different players

The inaugural award was presented to Jerry West for the LA Lakers' 1969 win in the NBA Finals, however, it's Michael Jordan who won the award more than anyone. On two separate occasions, Michael Jordan won three straight Finals MVP awards, a feat only Shaquille O'Neal, who did it once, has accomplished.

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2022 NBA All-Star Game

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Behind Jordan's six, the player who won the NBA Finals MVP award the most times is LeBron James, who has won it four times. After that, there's a three-way tie for players who won the NBA Finals MVP award the most.

Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan all won three times, with Magic also being the youngest player to ever win at 20 years old as a rookie. Johnson's accomplishment also makes him the only rookie to ever win the Finals MVP award.