NBA Finals MVPs by Year: Complete List of Winners

The NBA Finals MVP award, given since 1969 and now named the Bill Russell Trophy, goes to the standout performer of the championship series. Michael Jordan holds the record with six, all won with the Chicago Bulls, followed by LeBron James with four. Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Tim Duncan each won three.

The most recent winner is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who claimed the 2025 award leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to the franchise’s first title. Below is the full year-by-year breakdown of Finals MVPs over the last 50-plus seasons, plus the players who have won it most.

The all-time leaders

Michael Jordan’s six Finals MVPs are the gold standard — he won the award in every one of the Bulls’ six championship runs between 1991 and 1998, never losing a Finals and never sharing the spotlight. LeBron James sits second with four, and is the only player to win it with three different franchises: the Miami Heat (2012, 2013), the Cleveland Cavaliers (2016), and the Los Angeles Lakers (2020).

Behind them, a trio of legends share three apiece — Magic Johnson, who won his first at just 20 years old in 1980; Shaquille O’Neal, who took three straight from 2000 to 2002; and Tim Duncan, whose wins spanned 1999 to 2005.

The list of multiple winners reads like a who’s-who of basketball history, from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird to Hakeem Olajuwon, Kobe Bryant, Kawhi Leonard, and Kevin Durant.

From centers to superstars

The award’s history traces how the game itself has changed. The early decades were dominated by big men and team-first guards — Wes Unseld, Bill Walton, Jo Jo White — before the Magic-and-Bird era turned the Finals into a showcase for transcendent stars.

A few quirks stand out: Jerry West won the very first award in 1969 despite his Lakers losing the series, still the only player ever to do so, and Andre Iguodala won in 2015 without starting every game.

Recent winners reflect the league’s global reach, with international stars like Dirk Nowitzki, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokić taking home the trophy alongside homegrown talents.

The takeaway

The NBA Finals MVP has been awarded since 1969, and Michael Jordan’s six remain the benchmark, ahead of LeBron James (4) and the three-time winners Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Tim Duncan. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the reigning winner after leading Oklahoma City to the 2025 title.

With the 2026 Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs underway, a new name is about to join this list — and whoever wins will be the first Finals MVP for either a long-suffering Knicks franchise or a Spurs team building around Victor Wembanyama.