The Bill Russell Trophy
The NBA Finals MVP — officially the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award — is presented to the best player of the NBA Finals. It's been awarded every year since 1969 and was renamed in 2009 to honour Bill Russell, the 11× champion whose dynasty predated the trophy.
Most Finals MVPs (career)
- Michael Jordan — 6 (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)
- LeBron James — 4 (2012, 2013, 2016, 2020)
- Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — 3 each
Recent winners (2015–2025)
- 2015 — Andre Iguodala (Golden State Warriors)
- 2016 — LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
- 2017 — Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors)
- 2018 — Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors)
- 2019 — Kawhi Leonard (Toronto Raptors)
- 2020 — LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)
- 2021 — Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks)
- 2022 — Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) — first career Finals MVP
- 2023 — Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets)
- 2024 — Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics)
- 2025 — See PlaySports NBA for the latest winner
The one from the losing team
Only one player has won Finals MVP while losing the championship: Jerry West in 1969. The Lakers lost to Bill Russell's Celtics in seven games, but West averaged 37.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists — enough for the media panel to name him MVP anyway.
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