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The NBA MVP award is the greatest achievement a player can earn in the regular season. Often, the NBA Most Valuable Player is part of one of the top teams from the regular season, so it can also be described as an award that rewards a collective effort, too. LeBron James has the most NBA MVP trophies, with four. In this article, we will list the five NBA legends with the most NBA MVP awards.
5 Players with the most NBA MVP awards
The NBA MVP has been around the league since the 1955-56 NBA season. The first player to take the trophy home was the legendary Bob Pettit, who went on to win another one before his career ended.
From its inception until the 1979-1980 season, the players voted for the NBA MVP. From the 1980-81 NBA season forward, sportswriters have the duty of picking their five choices for MVP. The player on their ballot who is selected first receives 10 points, the second-place votes are worth seven points, third place receives five points, fourth place is worth three points, and the fifth player gets one point.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the reigning NBA MVP, and he has taken the trophy in the last two seasons.
In this piece, we will take a look at the five players with the most NBA MVP awards won throughout their careers.
No. 4 (tie) - LeBron James, 4 MVP awards
Arguably the greatest player in NBA history, LeBron James has won four NBA MVP awards in his glorious career.
Even though four NBA MVPs look a little underwhelming in LeBron James' resume, it is not his fault, as some times it might seem that the voters take his greatness for granted.
Also Read: Michael Jordan vs Lebron James Stats, Awards and Trophies
His four NBA MVP trophies came in a span of five years, between the 2008-09 season and the 2012-13 campaign. He won his first two awards with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009 and 2010 and the other two with the Miami Heat (2012 and 2013). Only Bill Russell has won four NBA MVP trophies in a five-year span.
No. 4 (tie) - Wilt Chamberlain, 4 MVP awards
Any list that considers some of the greatest NBA records needs to have Wilt Chamberlain's name on it. Wilt won four NBA MVPs in his 14-year career.
Along with many scoring records, Chamberlain – as a Philadelphia Warrior – was the first rookie to take the NBA MVP award home.
In addition to Chamberlain's rookie season, 1959-60, he took three consecutive NBA MVP trophies (becoming the second player ever to do it) from the 1965-66 campaign through the 1967-68 NBA season.
No. 2 (tie) - Michael Jordan, 5 MVP awards
Even though many hail Michael Jordan as the undisputed greatest player in NBA history, the six-time champion is not the player with most NBA MVP trophies won.
Jordan won the NBA MVP five times during his 15-year career. 'His Airness' won his first MVP at the end of the 1987-88 NBA season. In that year, he also became the first player to win the NBA MVP and the Defensive Player of the Year award, and the first to do it in the same season.
His other four NBA MVP awards came in the 1990-91, 1991-92, 1995-96 and 1997-98 NBA seasons.
Also Read: Michael Jordan’s net worth, salary, endorsements and more
No. 2 (tie) - Bill Russell, 5 MVP awards
Bill Russell is well-known for winning a whopping 11 NBA titles in his 13-year career. He also took five NBA MVP trophies in his glorious career and was the all-time leader in MVPs at the time of his retirement in 1969.
Russell was also the first player in NBA history to win it in three consecutive years (from 1960-61 to 1962-63) and the first to win four NBA MVPs in a five-year stretch.
The legendary Russell took one of the most impressive NBA MVP wins in history in the 1961-62 NBA season. In that year, Wilt Chamberlain averaged the unbreakable record of 50.4 points per game. Moreover, Oscar Robertson became the first player to average a triple-double for an entire season. Still, both came behind Russell in the players' voting for the NBA MVP.
No. 1 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 6 MVP awards
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's basketball career, even before the NBA, is full of unbelievable stats. Kareem is the all-time leader in points scored in NBA history with 38,387 and he won six NBA championships with two different franchises, twice being named Finals MVP.
Abdul-Jabbar is the all-time leader in NBA MVP trophies won with six. He won his six trophies with the Milwaukee Bucks (three) and the LA Lakers (three). All of Kareem's NBA MVP awards came during the era in which the players voted.
Kareem also is the only player in NBA history to win the award in a year in which his team – the Lakers – did not make the NBA Playoffs (1975-76).
Guess the Lakers players!
