The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (formerly known as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1969 NBA Finals. The award is decided by a panel of eleven media members, who cast votes after the conclusion of the Finals. The person with the highest number of votes wins the award. The award was originally a black trophy with a gold basketball-shaped sphere at the top, similar to the Larry O'Brien Trophy, until a new trophy was introduced in 2005.

Since its inception, the award has been given 55 times to 34 players. Michael Jordan is a record six-time award winner. LeBron James has won the award four times in his career, and Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Tim Duncan won three times each. Jordan and O'Neal are the only players to win the award in three consecutive seasons (Jordan accomplished the feat on two occasions). Johnson is the only rookie ever to win the award, as well as the youngest at 20 years and 276 days old. In 1985, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the oldest to win at 38 years and 54 days old. Andre Iguodala is the only winner to have not started every game in the series. Jerry West, the first awardee (1969), is the only person to win the award while being on the losing team.

Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kobe Bryant, Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant won the award twice. Olajuwon, Durant, Bryant, and James have won the award in two consecutive seasons. James is the only player to have won the award with three different teams, while he and Leonard are the only players to have won the award in both conferences. Johnson, Moses Malone, Durant, and Leonard are the only players to have been named Finals MVP in their first season with a team. Olajuwon of Nigeria (who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1993), Tony Parker of France, Dirk Nowitzki of Germany, Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece, Nikola Jokić of Serbia, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Canada are the only international players to win the award. Duncan is an American citizen, but is considered an "international" player by the NBA because he was not born in one of the fifty states or Washington, D.C. Parker, Nowitzki, Antetokounmpo and Jokić are the only winners to have been trained totally outside the U.S.; Olajuwon played college basketball at Houston, Duncan at Wake Forest, and Gilgeous-Alexander at Kentucky. Cedric Maxwell is the only Finals MVP winner eligible for the Hall of Fame who has not been voted in. The only NBA draft second round picks to win the award are Jalen Brunson, Dennis Johnson, Nikola Jokić and Willis Reed.

Eight players have won this award after winning an NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and four of those had also won state high school championships: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Magic Johnson and Jalen Brunson.

On February 14, 2009, during the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, then-NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the award would be renamed the "Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award" in honor of 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell.

Winners

^Denotes player who is still active in the NBA *Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Player's team lost the NBA FinalsPlayer (#)Denotes the number of times the player had received the Finals MVP awardTeam (#)Denotes the number of times a player from this team has received the Finals MVP awardGPGames playedMPGMinutes per gamePPGPoints per gameRPGRebounds per gameAPGAssists per gameSTLSteals per gameBLKBlocks per game Year Player Pos. Nat. TeamGPMPGPPGRPGAPGSTLBLK1969 * G Los Angeles Lakers 743.937.94.77.4——1970 * C/F New York Knicks637.723.010.52.8——1971 * C Milwaukee Bucks442.027.018.52.8——1972 * C Los Angeles Lakers (2)547.219.423.22.6——1973 * (2) C/F New York Knicks (2)530.016.49.22.6——1974 * F/G Boston Celtics747.126.47.74.71.90.01975 * F Golden State Warriors443.029.54.05.03.50.81976 * G Boston Celtics (2)646.521.74.35.81.50.01977 * C Portland Trail Blazers637.718.519.05.21.03.71978 * C/F Washington Bullets738.69.011.73.90.60.11979 * G Seattle SuperSonics544.822.66.06.01.82.21980 * G Los Angeles Lakers (3)642.721.511.28.72.70.31981 F Boston Celtics (3)637.817.79.52.80.21.01982 * (2) G Los Angeles Lakers (4)641.716.210.88.02.50.31983 * C Philadelphia 76ers439.325.818.02.01.51.51984 * F Boston Celtics (4)743.627.414.03.62.11.11985 (2) C Los Angeles Lakers (5)635.525.79.05.21.01.51986 * (2) F Boston Celtics (5)644.824.09.79.52.70.31987 * (3) G Los Angeles Lakers (6)639.326.28.013.02.30.31988 * F Los Angeles Lakers (7)738.022.07.44.40.70.61989 * G Detroit Pistons436.827.31.86.00.50.31990 * G Detroit Pistons (2)538.427.65.27.01.60.41991 * G Chicago Bulls544.031.26.611.42.81.41992 * (2) G Chicago Bulls (2)642.335.84.86.51.70.31993 * (3) G Chicago Bulls (3)645.741.08.56.31.70.71994 * C Houston Rockets743.126.99.13.61.63.91995 * (2) C Houston Rockets (2)444.832.811.55.52.02.01996 * (4) G Chicago Bulls (4)642.027.35.34.21.70.21997 * (5) G Chicago Bulls (5)642.732.37.06.01.20.81998 * (6) G Chicago Bulls (6)641.733.54.02.31.80.71999 * F/C San Antonio Spurs545.627.414.02.41.02.22000 * C Los Angeles Lakers (8)645.738.016.72.31.02.72001 * (2) C Los Angeles Lakers (9)545.033.015.84.80.43.42002 * (3) C Los Angeles Lakers (10)441.536.312.33.80.52.82003 * (2) F/C San Antonio Spurs (2)644.024.217.05.31.05.32004 * G Detroit Pistons (3)538.821.03.25.21.20.02005 * (3) F/C San Antonio Spurs (3)740.720.614.12.10.42.12006 * G Miami Heat643.534.77.83.82.71.02007 * G San Antonio Spurs (4)437.824.55.03.30.80.02008 * F Boston Celtics (6)638.821.84.56.31.20.32009 * G Los Angeles Lakers (11)543.832.45.67.41.41.42010 * (2) G Los Angeles Lakers (12)741.128.68.03.92.10.72011 * F Dallas Mavericks640.326.09.72.00.70.72012 ^ F Miami Heat (2)544.028.610.27.41.60.42013 ^ (2) F Miami Heat (3)743.025.310.97.02.30.92014 ^ F San Antonio Spurs (5)533.417.86.42.01.61.22015 F/G Golden State Warriors (2)637.016.35.84.01.30.32016 ^ (3) F Cleveland Cavaliers741.729.711.38.92.62.32017 ^ F Golden State Warriors (3)539.835.28.25.41.01.62018 ^ (2) F Golden State Warriors (4)441.328.810.87.50.82.32019 ^ (2) F Toronto Raptors640.528.59.84.22.01.22020 ^ (4) F Los Angeles Lakers (13)639.329.811.88.51.20.52021 ^ F Milwaukee Bucks (2)639.835.213.25.01.21.82022 ^ G Golden State Warriors (5)637.531.26.05.02.00.22023 ^ C Denver Nuggets541.230.214.07.20.81.42024 ^ F/G Boston Celtics (7)538.620.85.45.01.60.82025 ^ G Oklahoma City Thunder (2)738.130.34.65.61.91.62026 ^ G New York Knicks (3)539.232.64.24.62.00.0

Multi-time winners AwardsPlayerTeam(s)Years6 Chicago Bulls, , , , , 4 Miami Heat (2), Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers , , , 3 Los Angeles Lakers , , , , San Antonio Spurs , , 2 New York Knicks , Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers , Boston Celtics , Houston Rockets , Los Angeles Lakers , Golden State Warriors , San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors ,

Teams Awards Teams Years13Los Angeles Lakers, , , , , , , , , , , , 7Boston Celtics, , , , , , 6Chicago Bulls, , , , , 5San Antonio Spurs, , , , Golden State Warriors, , , , 3Detroit Pistons, , Miami Heat, , New York Knicks, , 2Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Oklahoma City Thunder, 1Portland Trail BlazersWashington BulletsPhiladelphia 76ersDallas MavericksCleveland CavaliersToronto RaptorsDenver Nuggets0Atlanta HawksNoneBrooklyn NetsCharlotte HornetsIndiana PacersLos Angeles ClippersMemphis GrizzliesMinnesota TimberwolvesNew Orleans PelicansOrlando MagicPhoenix SunsSacramento KingsUtah Jazz

By country AwardsCountryYears51 United States–, –, –, –, , , 2 Nigeria, 1 France Germany Greece Serbia Canada

See also

NBA Most Valuable Player NBA Conference Finals Most Valuable Player Award NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player Award

Notes

References Specific

General