The Best NBA Player ESPY Award is an award presented annually since 1993 to a National Basketball Association (NBA) player adjudged to be the best in a given year, typically the NBA season contested during or immediately before the holding of the ESPY Awards ceremony.
Between 1993 and 2004, the award voting panel comprised variously fans; sportswriters and broadcasters, sports executives, and retired sportspersons, termed collectively experts.
Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in June and reflect performance from the June previous.Because of the rescheduling of the ESPY Awards ceremony, the award presented in 2002 was given in consideration of performance between February 2001 and June 2002. Seven players have won the award more than once; Michael Jordan won the inaugural award and a total of four across his career. LeBron James has won the award a total of seven times, the most by any player. Stephen Curry has won the award three times, while Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, and Hakeem Olajuwon have claimed two each. The award wasn't awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Winners Player was a member of the winning team in the NBA Finals. Player was a member of the losing team in the NBA Finals. * NBA Regular Season MVP† NBA Finals MVP
Year Player Nationality Position Team 1993 *† Shooting guard Chicago Bulls 1994 * Power forward Phoenix Suns 1995 *† / Center Houston Rockets 1996 (2) † / Center Houston Rockets 1997 (2) *† Shooting guard Chicago Bulls 1998 (3) † Shooting guard Chicago Bulls 1999 (4) *† Shooting guard Chicago Bulls 2000 † Power forward San Antonio Spurs 2001 *† Center Los Angeles Lakers 2002 (2) † Center Los Angeles Lakers 2003 (2) *† Power forward San Antonio Spurs 2004 * Power forward Minnesota Timberwolves 2005 * Point guard Phoenix Suns 2006 † Shooting guard Miami Heat 2007 Small forward Cleveland Cavaliers 2008 * Point guard Los Angeles Lakers 2009 (2) * Small forward Cleveland Cavaliers 2010 (2) † Shooting guard Los Angeles Lakers 2011 † Power forward Dallas Mavericks 2012 (3) *† Small forward Miami Heat 2013 (4) *† Small forward Miami Heat 2014 * Small forward Oklahoma City Thunder 2015 * Point guard Golden State Warriors 2016 (5) † Small forward Cleveland Cavaliers 2017 (6) Small forward Cleveland Cavaliers 2018 (7) Small forward Cleveland Cavaliers 2019 * Power forward Milwaukee Bucks 2020Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 (2) Point guard Golden State Warriors 2022 (3) † Point guard Golden State Warriors 2023 † Center Denver Nuggets 2024 Point guard Dallas Mavericks 2025 *† Point guard Oklahoma City Thunder 2026 † Point guard New York Knicks + By player Winners Selections74322221111111111+ By teamTeamWinners Cleveland Cavaliers 5 Chicago Bulls 4 Los Angeles Lakers 4 Miami Heat 3 Golden State Warriors 3 Dallas Mavericks 2 Houston Rockets 2 Oklahoma City Thunder 2 Phoenix Suns 2 San Antonio Spurs 2 Denver Nuggets 1 Milwaukee Bucks 1 Minnesota Timberwolves 1 New York Knicks 1
Notes
References ESPYS 2008: Best of the ESPYS