Seven Times When the NBA Finals MVP COULD HAVE Gone a Different Way

Tha Larry O’Brien NBA Finals trophy is the top competitive prize in all of professional basketball. When NBA Champions are crowned, the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP is as well, recognizing the best-performing and most-impactful player throughout the Finals series. Not just one player can be the reason for a team winning a championship, but when it is time for the exclusive recognition that comes with the acronym “MVP,” sometimes fans are left questioning the leading vote-getter of the award. This list is not composed of choices that were wrong, but choices that could have also gone a different way.

#7: 2018

Winner: Kevin Durant

Snubbed: Stephen Curry

In the 2018 NBA Finals Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant both had very strong cases for Finals MVP honors. Both superstars showed up for the Golden State Warriors and handled business in games one and two and while Durant certainly was not far behind, Curry was the clear MVP of the first two games of the series. KD’s monster performance in the Dubs’ Game 3 victory is what shifted the momentum in his favor after a 43-13-7 stat line and late-game heroics. Curry’s argument seemed to have taken a huge hit after posting 11-6-5 that same game, easily his worst performance of the series. Curry bounced back in the last game, scoring 37 points and making the impactful plays he was not making in the game prior. The other three games of the series certainly made up for his underperformance in Game 3, and despite scoring 17 more points than Durant in Game 4 and arguably outperforming him in three out of the series’ four games, KD’s Game 4 triple double following his Game 3 heroics were too much for majority of voters to ignore.

#6: 1980

Winner: Magic Johnson

Snubbed: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Earvin Magic Johnson moving from point guard to center in the NBA Finals as a rookie is one of the most impressive stories in NBA History. Many still argue, that the 1980 NBA Finals MVP should have went to regular season MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who would go down with injury after Game 5. After the first five games, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 33-13-3 to Magic’s 17-10-9. Johnson’s numbers were still impressive, but Kareem was clearly the best player in the series making the most impact in five out of six games. Magic Johnson filling Kareem’s role with a 42-15-7 to secure the 1980 championship remains one of the most spectacular performances in NBA postseason history, but it is still valid to question how one game was enough to win over some voters away from who seemed to be the obvious pick. Some even speculate that Abdul-Jabbar not being in attendance could have influenced voters’ decisions as he would not have been present to receive the award following the Game 6 closeout win.

#5: 2024

Winner: Jaylen Brown

Snubbed: Jayson Tatum

Throughout the 2023-24 NBA season in both the regular season and the playoffs, the Boston Celtics looked like the best team in basketball, and their domination over the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals further proved the series was a mismatch. After Boston went up 3-0, it was clear Dallas had no answer and the talk amongst everyone shifted from “Who’s winning the championship?” to “Which J is getting Finals MVP?” Jaylen Brown had a great series, and his efficiency was key, but Tatum edging him in every statistical category as well as an impressive 31-11-8 in the game 5 title-clincher was definitely enough to shift the momentum of the Finals MVP throughout the series. Still, Brown was absolutely a deserving pick for the award.

#4: 1988

Winner: James Worthy

Snubbed: Magic Johnson

James Worthy’s monster 36-16-10 Game 7 to help the Los Angeles Lakers secure the 1988 NBA Championship was nothing short of MVP-play, but the best player with the most impact throughout the series for LA was Magic Johnson. Averaging nearly 20-12-6 for the series (to Worthy’s 22-7-4), Johnson’s late game heroics at certain points in the series coupled with his play-making to involve his teammates should have landed him the award, despite being outperformed in Game 7 by Worthy’s historic effort.

#3: 1969

Winner: Jerry West

Snubbed: John Havliceck

Despite averaging nearly 38 points, 7.4 assists, and 4.7 rebounds in the 1969 NBA Finals, the late great Jerry West was arguably the worst selection of this award in its 55-year history, which is ironic being that he is the award’s first ever winner. There is not much to break down here, as there is only one reason the Logo makes this list, and it is because he was on the losing team. Whether voting concluded before the actual series did or voters genuinely felt no one on the championship Boston Celtics had more impact for their team then West did for his Lakers - the most valuable player of a championship matchup should never be from the losing team. With the Celtics winning, John Havliceck would have been the first answer on who had the biggest impact for them that series.

#2: 2015

Winner: Andre Igoudala

Snubbed: Stephen Curry

When Kevin Durant won Finals MVP in 2018, it cannot be called a robbery for Stephen Curry as both players were neck and neck and KD did have the edge ultimately in the end. In 2015, however, while robbery is a harsh term, it is certainly fair to question why Andre Igoudala won Finals MVP over Stephen Curry, as key as Iggy was in the series. Some people even argue LeBron James should have won over both Warriors, as he was playing lights out without his second and third best players, however that argument is largely invalid as James was on the losing team at the end of the day. Igoudala winning the award over Curry seemed to be due to his ability to contain LeBron James on defense in Games 4-6 (series’ final three games), where Golden State would not lose any matchup. Igoudala’s defensive performance was key for Golden State, but LeBron James’ stats throughout the whole series, including Games 4 to 6 when Igoudala was primarily guarding him suggest he was not really slowed down at any point of the series. James would post 20-12-8, 40-14-11, and 32-18-9 respectively in each game. With James not being fully “locked down” on defense (as some argue for Iggy’s case) and Curry leading Iggy in nearly every statistical category for the series, this choice makes even less sense them some of the other past winners mentioned.

#1: 1978

Winner: Wes Unseld

Snubbed: Elvin Hayes

Both Elvin Hayes and the late great Wes Unseld were huge for the Washington Bullets during their 1978 championship run. While Unseld continued to make impact, particularly as a rebounder, Hayes outperformed Unseld throughout the series, averaging 20.7 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists (along with two blocks per game) to Unseld’s 9.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. Unseld was key to the Bullets’ title run, but Hayes nearly doubled him in scoring, and matched him in rebounds, indicating he indeed outperformed Unseld in the series.

No Downplay On Greatness

Reiterating the earlier point, this list is just years where the Bill Russell Finals MVP could have been a different player, no selection here was necessarily a “wrong” pick.