NBA MVPs Through the Years: Who Has The Most Hardware?

Eleazar Gonzales lists down the players with the most number of MVP won in their careers.

In any basketball league, winning championships is any player's ultimate goal, but that doesn't stop anyone from winning other awards such as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. 

The NBA started naming MVPs during the 1955-1956 regular season. The award, now known as the Michael Jordan trophy, is given to the best-performing player at the end of the regular season. And yes, some players won the award multiple times.

Let's take a look at the players with the most MVP awards won in NBA history.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Six)

People often forget Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, during his 21-season stint in the NBA, has won six MVP awards before retiring with 38, 398 points under his belt. 

He won his first three MVPs while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks and then followed those up with three more as a player for the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Abdul-Jabbar's other accolades include six NBA championships, two Finals MVPs, and was a 19-time NBA All-Star.

Bill Russell (Five)

Bill Russell is tied with Michael Jordan for five MVP awards won. 

The center, who won 11 NBA championships with the Boston Celtics, scored 14,522 points and grabbed 21,620 rebounds during his playing career- all with the Celtics. He's also a 12-time All-Star, four-time rebounding champion, and remains the only player to get his jersey number (six) retired by all NBA teams.

Michael Jordan (Five)

There's a reason why the award is named after him: most people believe Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest player of all time.

His Airness won the award five times while leading the Chicago Bulls to two separate three-peats. MJ also has six Finals MVP awards and yes, the Bulls never lost in the championship round with Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Head Coach Phil Jackson. 

On top of all those awards, Jordan also won the 1988 Defensive Player of the Year plum and was also a nine-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team.

Wilt Chamberlain (Four)

The only player to ever breach the century mark in a game has four MVP awards on his resume. 

Interestingly, Wilt Chamberlain won those awards during his stint in Philadelphia: one when the team was still known as the Philadelphia Warriors and three more when they changed to the Philadelphia 76ers. 

Chamberlain has two NBA championships, a Finals MVP award in 1972, and was a 13-time NBA All-Star.

LeBron James (Four)

Like Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, now playing for the Los Angeles Lakers in year 22, has won the MVP award four times in his career- so far. 

He won the first two while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers and added two more while suiting up for the Miami Heat alongside Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. 

The King hoisted the NBA championship four times en route to taking home the Finals MVP award on each trip. He has long passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA all-time leading scorer with 39,452 points and counting. 

He also led the Lakers in winning the first NBA in-season tournament championship and was the first in-season tournament MVP.

Moses Malone (Three)

In 19 seasons, Moses Malone averaged 20.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks while playing for multiple ABA and NBA teams, including stops in Houston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Milwaukee.

He won his first two MVP awards in 1979 and 1982 with the Houston Rockets and another one while playing for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983. He is a one-time NBA champion, a 12-time NBA All-Star, an ABA All-Star in 1975, and a six-time rebounding champion.

Larry Bird (Three)

There's a reason why he's called Larry Legend in Boston: his Celtics career is indeed legendary.

To this day, Larry Bird remains one of the three players in NBA history to win three straight MVP awards from 1984 to 1986. The other two were another Boston great, Bill Russell, and Wilt Chamberlain.

 Bird is a three-time NBA champion, a 12-time All-Star, and won three straight three-point shooting contests from 1986 to 1988. 

Magic Johnson (Three)

Magic Johnson's basketball resume is a decorated one. Magic is a five-time NBA champion, three-time Finals MVP, and three-time season MVP. More importantly, many point to Magic as the showrunner of the Showtime Lakers in the '80s.

A nine-time All-Star, a four-time assists leader, and a two-time steals leader, Magic totaled 17,707 points, 10,141 assists, and 6,659 rebounds in 906 career games.

Magic also has one Olympic gold medal as a member of the US men's basketball team that competed in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. 

Two-Time MVPs

Bob Petit, the league's first MVP in 1956, is among the players who won the MVP award twice in their career. Petit finished the 1955-1956 season averaging 25.7 points and 16.2 rebounds- en route to his first MVP award while playing for the St. Louis Hawks. He added another one in 1959.

Two-time MVP winners also include Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Steph Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic.

One-Time MVPs

Would you believe some of the all-time greats like Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett, have only won the MVP once in their careers?

Other one-time MVPs include Allen Iverson, Bob Cousy, Bob McAdoo, and Julius Erving, among other great names. 

Joel Embiid joined the list after beating Nikola Jokic in last season's MVP race. 

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