Who has won NBA Finals MVP? Full list of the Bill Russell Finals MVP Award winners

The ultimate prize in the NBA is winning a championship, but from an individual standpoint, being named Finals MVP as the best player in the series stands as one of the most iconic awards in the league. 

The award has been handed out since 1969 and in 2009 was renamed the Bill Russell Finals MVP in honor of the Boston Celtics legend. 

“This is one of my proudest moments in basketball because I determined early in my career, the only important statistic in basketball is the final score,” Russell said after the award was named in his honor.

Russell is the winningest player in NBA history, named MVP five times and winning 11 championships as a player and coach with the Boston Celtics.

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The award is decided by a panel of eleven media members, who cast votes at the conclusion of the Finals. 

Since it was first introduced at the 1969 NBA Finals, the award has been handed out 53 times to 31 different players. 

Michael Jordan holds the record for the most wins with six, while LeBron James has won it four times and Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan on three occasions. 

Johnson was named Finals MVP in his rookie season in 1980, the only rookie ever to win the award and the youngest at 20 years old. His Laker teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the oldest to win it at 38 years old in 1985.

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Jordan and O'Neal are the only players to win it in three consecutive seasons (Jordan did it twice), while Jerry West is the only player in NBA history to be named Finals MVP from the losing side, winning the inaugural Bill Russell MVP in 1969. 

LeBron James is the only player in NBA history to win it with three different teams (Heat, Cavaliers, Lakers).

Full list of NBA Finals MVP winners

After six Finals appearances, Stephen Curry took home his first-ever Finals MVP award, finishing with 34 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals in the closeout Game 6 victory. 

Here is the complete list of past NBA Finals MVP winners.