The AD23MVP Memorial Trophy
Teams Represented: There are 29 teams in the PBSL. Only 11 have made the PBSL Finals. Only 5 of those 11 have made it a single time; the others have multiple appearances. An interesting fact about those one and done teams: the five teams to only make one finals appearance (Kings, Wizards, Magic, Spurs and Bucks) all lost in their one shot at the crown. To put it in another way, if you’ve made the finals more than once, you’ve walked away with at least one trophy.
Most Appearances: The Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics have the most Finals appearances with 5 (both are 2-3). Four of the Mavs appearances were under GM Darth Vegito. The final one was under FearTheBrow. Trailing the Celtics and Mavs are the Hawks with 4 (4-0) and the Lakers with 4 (3-1). The other multiple appearances are the Warriors with 3 (2-1) and the Raptors with 2 (1-1).
MVPs: 14 Finals MVPs. But only 7 players have ever won the trophy. Of the 14 winners, only 2 players have just one Finals MVP (Tom Gugliotta of the Raptors and Kevin Johnson of the Lakers). The other 5 players have won at least two. Penny Hardaway has won 4. Shawn Kemp, Jason Kidd, Alonzo Mourning and Magic Johnson have all won two each. Predictably, every MVP was at least b/b, with Penny and Kemp being the lone p/p in the list.
Steakin’: From 1993 to 1998, the Boston Celtics appeared in all 5 of their appearances, making it to 5 of 6 PBSL Finals. Many GMs consider the Celtics the team of the decade, although they only won 2 in that stretch.
Odds and Ends: The Lakers and Hawks are the only teams to win titles in both decades. There has only been one sweep in PBSL Finals history: the Hawks over the Mavs in 2002 as Penny dominated his former team. There has only been two series that went to 7 games: the Lakers over the Celtics in 1993, and the Celtics over the Mavericks in 1995. The most popular series record? 4-1 has happened in half of the 14 series.
Who will win the AD23MVP Memorial Trophy this year? It’s hard to say, but I am sure just like in previous years, it’ll be a fantastic series! And the word is there are designs for a new version of the Trophy. We've found these leaks online. Which Trophy will the champ be bringing home this year?
