NBA MVP Vote Points
Who are the 100 most succcessful players in the history of NBA MVP voting?
The voting history for MVP Awards and other honors (like All-NBA teams) can give us insight into how players were viewed at the time. We would never want to use this as the only criterion for determining the greatness of a player's season or career, but it's certainly useful as part of our understanding.
For years, I've been keeping track of what I call MVP Points. Looking at the NBA MVP voting results, I award 10 points for winning the award, 9 points for second place, 8 points for third, and so on down to 1 point for 10 place. Players who received votes but finished outside the top 10 get ½-point.
Here's the 2022-23 voting as an example:
1. Joel Embiid — 10 MVP Points
2. Nikola Jokic — 9
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo — 8
4. Jayson Tatum — 7
5. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — 6
6. Donovan Mitchell — 5
7. Domantas Sabonis — 4
8. Luka Doncic — 3
9. Stephen Curry — 2
10. Jimmy Butler — 1
11. De'Aaron Fox — 0.5
t12. Jalen Brunson — 0.5
t12. Ja Morant — 0.5
The career list for this is very interesting. I'm presenting this table without comment, but making it available as a resource. The first official MVP vote was in 1956, so very early players may not be fully represented here. Only NBA MVP votes are counted; the ABA is not included. Click below for the key to the table.
