The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1955–56 NBA season to the best performing player of the season. The winner receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honor of the first commissioner (then president)[a] of the NBA who served from 1946 until his retirement in 1963. MVP voting takes place immediately following the regular season. Until the 1979–80 season, the MVP was originally selected by a vote of NBA players. However, since the 1980–81 season, the award is decided by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first to fifth place selections. Each first-place vote is worth 10 points; each second-place vote is worth seven; each third-place vote is worth five, fourth-place is worth three and fifth-place is worth one. Starting from 2010, one ballot was cast by fans through online voting. The player with the highest point total wins the award.[2] Since the 1982–83 season, every player who has won the award has played for a team with at least 50 regular-season wins (except for Karl Malone in the lockout-shortened 50-game 1998–99 season and LeBron James in the lockout-shortened 66-game 2011–12 season).[3]
Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the award six times.[4] Both Bill Russell and Michael Jordan won the award five times[3] while Wilt Chamberlain won the award four times in his career. Hall of Famers Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, along with current player James, have each won the award three times, while Bob Pettit, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan and Steve Nash have each won it twice.[3] The most recent winner is James.[5] Only two rookies have won the award: Wilt Chamberlain in the 1959–60 season and Wes Unseld in the 1968–69 season.[6] Hakeem Olajuwon of Nigeria,[b] Duncan of the U.S. Virgin Islands,[c] Nash of Canada[d] and Dirk Nowitzki of Germany are the only international MVP winners. Duncan is an American citizen by birth, but is considered an international player by the NBA.[9] Of these four players, only Nowitzki was trained totally outside the United States—the other three all played U.S. college basketball (Olajuwon at Houston, Duncan at Wake Forest, and Nash at Santa Clara).
[edit] Winners
Tim Duncan is one of two international players to win the award twice in a row, along with Steve Nash.
Derrick Rose at 22 years old is the youngest in league history to win the award.
| ^ |
Denotes player who is still active in the NBA |
| * |
Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| Player (X) |
Denotes the number of times the player has been named MVP |
| Team (X) |
Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won |
- ^ The official title of the position was NBA President until 1967 when it was changed to NBA Commissioner.[1]
- ^ a b Hakeem Olajuwon was born in Nigeria, but became a naturalized United States citizen in 1993.[7]
- ^ a b c Although Tim Duncan was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands and is a United States citizen,[8] the NBA considers him an international player.[9]
- ^ a b c Steve Nash, who was born in South Africa, was raised in Canada.[10]
- ^ a b c d e f Before the 1971–72 season, Lew Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[11]
- ^ Due to a lockout, the season did not start until February 5, 1999, and all 29 teams played a shortened 50 game regular season schedule.[12]
- ^ Due to a lockout, the season did not start until December 25, 2011 and all 30 teams played a shortened 66 game regular season schedule.[13]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- General
- Specific
- ^ Monroe, Mike. "The Commissioners". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/commissioners.html. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
- ^ "LeBron receives 116 first-place votes". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. May 2, 2010. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5156199. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
- ^ a b c "Most Valuable Player". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/awards_mvp.html. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
- ^ "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/players/abduljabbar_bio.html. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
- ^ "LeBron James wins 2012 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 12, 2012. http://www.nba.com/2012/news/05/12/mvp-release/index.html. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
- ^ "Wes Unseld". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/players/unseld_bio.html. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
- ^ "Hakeem Olajuwon Bio: 1992-93". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/hakeem_olajuwon/bio.html. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
- ^ "Virgin Islands". CIA World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/vq.html. Retrieved August 12, 2008.
- ^ a b "NBA Players from around the world: 2005-2006 Season". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/players/international_player_directory.html. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
- ^ McPeek, Jeramie. "The Canadian Kid". NBA.com (from Fastbreak Magazine on Sept./Oct. 1996). Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/suns/news/fastbreak_nash_cover.html. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
- ^ "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/players/abduljabbar_bio.html. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
- ^ Donovan, John (February 4, 1999). "Let the semi-season begin: Expect injuries, intensity and a new champion in '99". CNN Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1999/nba_preview/news/1999/02/03/nba_expectations/. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
- ^ Beck, Howard (November 28, 2011). "Two Exhibition Games for N.B.A. Teams". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/sports/basketball/two-exhibition-games-for-nba-teams.html?ref=basketball. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
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NBA Most Valuable Player Award
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