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The NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award or the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award is an annual award given by the National Basketball Association (NBA), after careful consideration by a panel of eleven media members. The award has been given every year since the 1969 NBA Finals.
The Finals MVP award is given after a voting process is carried out by the media members, the player with the highest votes wins the prestigious award. The very first recipient of the award in NBA history is the LA Lakers' very own Jerry West.
The award has been duly distributed to its respective winners 33 times, 19 of which made their way to the top five players with the most number of NBA Finals MVP wins under their belt. Let's take a look at who these players are.
#5 Tim Duncan
Tim Duncan has won a record of three NBA Finals MVP awards in his career. He won his first Finals MVP Award in the 1998-99 season. This came after securing the Spurs' first NBA title against the New York Knicks. He was named the NBA Finals MVP after putting up an impressive performance in the NBA Finals, averaging 24 points and 17 rebounds.
In the 2002-03 season, Big Fundamental stunned the world with a triple-double (21 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists) in the decisive sixth game against the New Jersey Nets. Duncan's performance guaranteed the NBA title for the Spurs for the second time in the franchise's history and also secured him the NBA Finals MVP win. His third Finals MVP win came in the 2004-05 season, after he led the Spurs to a victory over the defending champions, the Detroit Pistons, snatching their third NBA title and his third Finals MVP Award.
Duncan is the 15th all-time scorer in NBA history, having scored 26,496 points in his career in 1,392 games played.
#4 Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal is also tied with Tim Duncan for 3 NBA Finals MVP wins. The LA Lakers big man won his first award at the 1999-00 NBA Finals, scoring 41 points and securing 12 rebounds in Game 6 to snatch a win over the Indiana Pacers, which guaranteed his first championship title. He averaged 38 points and 16.7 rebounds during the series and was named the NBA Finals MVP by a unanimous decision.
Shaq won his second and third NBA Finals MVP wins to his name the following consecutive seasons. He is the second player in the history of the game to win the prestigious award three times consecutively after Michael Jordan did it from 1990-01 through to the 1992-03 season and repeated the feat in the 1995-96 to 1997-98 season.
The Hall of Famer is the 8th all-time scorer in league history with 28,596 points scored in 1,207 games played.
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#3 Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson has also secured himself 3 NBA Finals MVP wins. The LA Lakers point guard won his first Finals MVP win in the 1979-80 season. He became the first Rookie to win the award, averaging 18 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists in the regular season. He also won his first championship title in his rookie season.
The 6-foot 9-inches star got his second win in the 1981-82 season after the Boston Celtics' Cedric Maxwell clinched the award in the 1980-81 season. It was his third NBA Finals MVP win in the 1986-87 season, where he averaged 23.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 12.2 assists in the regular season.
Johnson was the all-time leader in assists in NBA history with 9,921 assists before his record was broken by John Stockton in 1995.
#2 LeBron James
LeBron James is the second-best player with the highest number of NBA Finals MVP awards. He has won the award an outstanding four times. He won his very first Finals MVP award in the 2011-12 season, playing for the Miami Heat, which also saw him win his first NBA championship. He averaged 30.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists in the playoffs that season.
King James won his second NBA Finals MVP Award and the NBA championship the following season. In the playoffs, he averaged 25.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 0.8 blocks. His third and fourth Finals MVP awards came in the 2015-16 and 2019-20 seasons respectively. He has a career average of 27 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists.
James is the 3rd best all-time scorer in the NBA with 35,367 points in 1,310 games played. He is the favorite to beat the all-time scorer record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387).
#1 Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan is the NBA player with the most number of NBA Finals MVP Awards. He has a whopping number of six Finals MVP wins. He is also the first and second player to win the award three consecutively.
The Chicago Bulls shooting guard won his first three championship titles between the 1990-91 and 1992-93 seasons and also won the Finals MVP Award in each of those years. He averaged 31.1 points, 34.5 points and 35.1 points respectively in each of the seasons.
During the 1995-96 through to 1998-199 season, Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to three consecutive NBA Championships and also earned himself the Finals MVP Award in all three seasons. He has a career average of 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists.
Jordan is the 5th all-time scorer in NBA history, having scored 32,292 points in 1,072 games played.
