NBA Finals MVP Winners: Complete Year-by-Year History From 1969 to 2025

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NBA Finals MVP Winners: Complete Year-by-Year History From 1969 to 2025

June 6, 20261

NBA Finals MVP Winners, The NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award has been presented annually since 1969, recognizing the player who most determined the outcome of the NBA championship series. From Jerry West‘s historic 1969 award — the only Finals MVP ever given to a player on the losing team — to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s dominant 2025 performance, this NBA Finals MVP history captures some of basketball’s most extraordinary individual moments.

This is the complete, year-by-year record of every NBA Finals MVP, with analysis of the performances that defined each era.

Finals MVP Winners: 1969 to 1980

1969: Jerry West (Lakers) — the only Finals MVP awarded to a player on the losing team; West averaged 37.9 PPG in a series his team lost
1970: Willis Reed (Knicks) — famously limped onto the court injured in Game 7 to inspire New York’s championship
1971: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Bucks) — dominant performance in his first Finals appearance
1972: Wilt Chamberlain (Lakers)
1973: Willis Reed (Knicks) — his second Finals MVP
1974: John Havlicek (Celtics)
1975: Rick Barry (Warriors) — swept the Bullets in a stunning upset
1976: Jo Jo White (Celtics)
1977: Bill Walton (Trail Blazers) — one of the great individual Finals performances
1978: Wes Unseld (Bullets)
1979: Dennis Johnson (SuperSonics)
1980: Magic Johnson (Lakers) — age 20, stepped in at center in Game 6 with Kareem injured; 42 points, 15 rebounds

The Jordan Era: Perfect Finals Record

NBA Finals MVP Winners, Michael Jordan won the Finals MVP award every single time the Chicago Bulls appeared in the NBA Finals — six appearances, six awards. This perfect correlation is one of the central arguments in his favor in the all-time GOAT debate.

1991, 1992, 1993: First three-peat — Jordan averaged 31.0 PPG across his first three Finals
1996, 1997, 1998: Second three-peat — Jordan’s 1998 Finals average was 33.5 PPG

Jordan’s combined Finals statistics: 33.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 6.0 APG across 35 Finals games.

Multi-Time Finals MVP Winners

Michael Jordan — 6 Finals MVPs (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998) — all-time record
LeBron James — 4 Finals MVPs (2012, 2013, 2016, 2020)
Magic Johnson — 3 Finals MVPs (1980, 1982, 1987)
Shaquille O’Neal — 3 Finals MVPs (2000, 2001, 2002)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — 2 Finals MVPs (1971, 1985)
Tim Duncan — 3 Finals MVPs (1999, 2003, 2005)

Youngest Finals MVP Winners

Magic Johnson — 20 years, 289 days (1980) — all-time record
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — 23 years (1971)
Giannis Antetokounmpo — 26 years (2021)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — 26 years (2025)

Most Dominant Finals Performances by Statistics

Shaquille O’Neal 2000: 38.0 PPG, 16.7 RPG, 2.7 BPG in the Finals
Michael Jordan 1993: 41.0 PPG across the Finals series
LeBron James 2016: 29.7 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 8.9 APG — plus the legendary chase-down block in Game 7
Giannis Antetokounmpo 2021: 50 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks in the clinching Game 6

Jerry West: The Only Loser to Win Finals MVP

NBA Finals MVP Winners, The most historically unique entry is Jerry West’s 1969 award. Los Angeles lost the series to Boston in seven games, yet West averaged 37.9 PPG across the Finals. The committee recognized his performance was so far above anyone else’s — on either team — that not awarding him the MVP would have been unjustifiable. It remains the only time in NBA Finals history a losing player has received the award.

Recent Winners: 2020 to 2025

2020: LeBron James (Lakers) — 4th Finals MVP, becomes first player to win Finals MVP with three franchises
2021: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks) — Milwaukee’s first championship in 50 years
2022: Stephen Curry (Warriors) — his 4th ring and first Finals MVP, long overdue
2023: Nikola Jokic (Nuggets) — Denver’s first championship in franchise history
2024: Jaylen Brown (Celtics) — Boston’s record 18th championship
2025: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder) — OKC’s first championship