The qualifications for MVP have been debated ever since the award was debuted. Some believe it should go to the best player on the best team. Some believe it should go to a player who, if absent from a playoff team, would make them a lottery team. Rather than spend the time debating this point, I decided to post the list of every MVP with their stats, as well as analyze other interesting facts about the award winners.
The first thing that stands out to me is the number of repeat winners. The award has been given 23 times to nine people. Four of those nine have only won one MVP (Jordan, Robinson, Hardaway, Durant). The other five have won multiple awards, from 2 (Lewis, Bosh) to 4 (Duncan, McGrady) to an unbelievable 7 (Kemp).
The second thing that stands out is that Lewis and McGrady are the only two to win MVPs for more than one team. Also interesting is that they won one in each conference. Neat!
One of the assumptions we make is that the leading scorer will be the Most Valuable Player. As it turns out, this isn't as common as you'd think: only 8 times did an MVP also win the scoring title: Kemp in 96, Penny in 99, Duncan in 00, 01, 02, and 03, Lewis in 06, and Durant in 11. And only twice did the league MVP win a title that same year -- both times it was Shawn Kemp.
Analyzing these seasons, I'd have to say the weakest MVP season was Rashard Lewis's campaign in Seattle. Most MVPs scored 30 points or more, and he only averaged 28.8 and 6.7 rebounds. The most dominant MVP season was in 1991, when David Robinson nearly put up 40 a game as well as 3.5 blocks. How Robinson only won one MVP is beyond me.
Lastly, the stats support the fact that the MVP goes to winning teams: MVP winners have won an average of 55 games a season. The most games an MVP has ever won is 70 (Kemp). The least amount of games an MVP has won is 45 (Duncan).
I hope you found this analysis of the MVP award interesting! A lot of research went into this.
