How hard is it to win FMVP for 2 or more consecutive times? Only six superstars in history have been completed, and Jordan is thriving!
In the history of the NBA over the past 75 years, if you want to ask what the most important honor is, then the answer of all teams and players must be the championship, after all, many superstars, such as Carl Malone and Charles Barkley, have not fulfilled their dreams throughout their careers. In addition to the championship, MVP is undoubtedly the highest honor for the players. Since the regular season MVP awards have been evaluated, the award has been awarded 66 times, and many superstars, including Jordan, Bill Russell, LeBron James, etc., have won the regular season MVP more than once, including winning the award many times, which proves the value of the regular season MVP while also proving their strong personal ability.
In addition to the regular season MVP, the finals MVP (hereinafter referred to as FMVP) is also a big prize to prove the ability of a player, compared with the regular season MVP, the conditions for obtaining FMVP are more demanding, and only 12 players in the team that won the championship that year can impact the award every year. Once you can't get the championship, then even if you are strong, you can't win the FMVP. Being able to win an FMVP once may already be the highest honor for many players, not to mention winning the FMVP for 2 or more consecutive times. Let's take stock of only six superstars in 75 years who have accomplished this feat.
1. Michael Jordan
The first is the well-deserved "basketball god" Michael Jordan, as the only player in history to have two consecutive three consecutive FMVP players, Jordan's performance in the finals is obvious to all. From 1991, when he led the Chicago Bulls to a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers led by "Magic" Johnson, until 1998, when he defeated Malone and Stockton's Utah Jazz, Jordan helped the team complete the most dominant "Red Dynasty" of the nineties.
Although he retired twice, Jordan still used unparalleled performance, twice achieved "triple crowns", conquering the historical superstars. Six in, six out, and a 100% chance of winning the championship, made Jordan the first person in basketball history. In 1991, Jordan averaged 31.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 11.4 assists, 2.8 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. In 1992, the battle against the "Glider", the first game completed the half of the 6 three-point super performance. In 1993, he averaged 41 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game, completely defeating "loser" Barkley. In 1996, he won the championship on Father's Day and spilled tears on the field to comfort his father's spirit in heaven. In 1997, unfortunately, food poisoning, the "flu war" slashed 38 points.
In 1998, the sixth game slashed 45 points and completed the "Throw of the Century". Every trip to the finals, he always has a super performance, and the 6 FMVP in history is undoubtedly the biggest compliment for him.
2. Hakim Olajuwon
In the nineties, it was indeed the Red Dynasty, and in addition to the Chicago Bulls, the Houston Rockets also completed the team's championship journey under the leadership of Hakim Olajuwon. You know, as the winner of the 1984 draft, Olajuwon has always proved that he does not lose to Jordan. It wasn't until 1994, the tenth year of the league, that he finally got such an opportunity. With Jordan's first retirement, the NBA entered a season of strife, and "Big Dream" won MVP and DPOY in this year, and played seven games with another Patrick Ewing of the "Big Four" in the Finals, and Olajuwon averaged 26.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 3.9 blocks per game, becoming the FMVP for the first time.
In the following season, the Rockets completed four under-grams as the sixth in the West, especially in the Finals, Olajuwon gave O'Neal four lessons, and became the FMVP again with 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, and Coach TomJanovic left a famous saying that "not to underestimate a championship heart".
3. Shaquil O'Neill
Aside from Jordan, O'Neill is the only superstar who has won three consecutive FMVP awards. You know, to be able to complete such an achievement, the first condition is to win three consecutive championships, in addition to being able to play the best performance of the whole team, in the case of Kobe Bryant has been on the edge, while constantly threatening the status of his team, can also be such a great achievement, enough to show O'Neal's reign of terror. 2000 was destined to be a year for O'Neal, who not only won multiple awards in the regular season MVP, All-Star Game MVP, one-time, scoring king, etc., but also helped the Lakers achieve the league's first record of 67 wins and 15 losses.
In the Finals, he faced the Pacers' weak interior line and began a torture journey. Averaging 38 points, 16.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.7 blocks per game, and his dominance on the inside, is simply a crime. In 2001, against the best defensive player of the year, Mutombo, O'Neal once again played a super stat of 33 points, 15.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.4 blocks, and solved the battle within five games. In 2002, he once again dominated the Nets' restricted area with 36.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.8 blocks. Since O'Neal, there has been no such dominant player in 20 years, which is enough to show O'Neal's strength.
4. Kobe Bryant
As another member of the "OK" group, after big brother O'Neal, Kobe Bryant also became the third superstar in history to win the FMVP for two consecutive times. After the 2004 Finals, the conflict between Kobe Bryant and O'Neal has reached an insoluble point, coupled with the defeat of Detroit, and the aging of Malone and Payton, the powerful Lakers dynasty has declared its understanding. However, Kobe Bryant could not prove himself until the Lakers got Paul Gasol in a wave of "robbery" deals in 2008, and Kobe finally had the strength to impact the championship again.
That year, he returned to the finals stage again after a gap of 4 years, but regrettably lost to the Celtics led by the "Big Three". However, Kobe's skills also gradually began to grow, and after the return of the last piece of the puzzle by Bynum, the Lakers finally defeated the Magic in the 2009 Finals, Kobe Bryant averaged 32.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.4 blocks, and deservedly became the FMVP. In 2010, the Lakers once again ushered in the challenge of the "Big Three" in the finals, and after seven big battles, the Lakers struggled to revenge successfully. Bryant's average of 28.6 points, 8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game is even more impressive to all the stars, and he won the FMVP for the second consecutive year, thus becoming the third superstar in history to complete this achievement.
5. LeBron James
After Kobe Bryant, the fourth person in history to complete this achievement is James, who has now become the all-time regular season + playoff total scorer. Fast forward 10 years, when 27-year-old James was on the cusp of his career. Because in the summer of 2010, James was in the world's attention, live broadcast his next choice, and Wade and Bosh formed the "Big Three" in Miami, making himself the target of public criticism. In addition, in the 2011 finals, James only scored 8 points in a single game, which triggered a lot of criticism from the media. The shrinking season in 2012 is not to be lost for James.
In the East, he finally beat his bitter Celtics, and in the Finals, facing the young Thunder, the mighty Heat won the championship in five games, and since entering the league for nine years, James has finally fulfilled his dream of a championship. Averaging 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game also makes him indisputably an FMVP. In the finals of the following season, James once again met his opponents in the first finals, the Spurs, and with Ray Allen's life-saving three-pointer in game six, the Heat's morale was greatly boosted, and they completed the reversal to win the championship. In seven games, James is still averaging 25.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 7 assists per game, winning the FMVP again. What is even more rare is that in these two seasons, James has also won the regular season MVP, and in the entire history of the NBA, only Jordan and Old Zhan have done it.
6. Kevin Durant
In the offseason of 2016, a player's decision ushered in a seismic change for the entire NBA. In the 2016 Western Conference Finals, the Thunder once held a 3:1 lead, but they were defeated by the super performance of the "Splash Brothers", which was regrettable. Durant's contract expired that year, and just as everyone was imagining Durant's next stop, Durant unexpectedly chose the Warriors who had just beaten him. Since then, the "Cosmic Five-Star Warrior" who rules the alliance has completed its formation. After choosing to join the Warriors, Durant became the first target of attack in the entire league after James.
While it is indeed full of controversy, the Warriors' strength has indeed been strengthened as never before, and Durant's arrival has perfected the Warriors' no. 3 position, which has always been a headache. And obviously the championship for them, more than any other period of time. In the 2017 Finals, he stood on the Finals stage again after 5 years, bombarding the gorgeous data of averaging 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game, and the three shooting rates entered the "180" club, and after easily defeating the Cavaliers, Durant won the FMVP for the first time. In 2018, the Warriors met the Cavaliers for the fourth consecutive year, and this time they completed a 4-0 sweep, and Durant won the FMVP trophy with an average of 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. Durant also became the fifth superstar in history to accomplish this feat.