MVP Winners by Conference (Part One)

11 min readMay 15, 2022

Editor’s Note — This article was originally published in September 2021 and does not reflect the 2022 MVP results.

While I was growing up in Pittsburgh, the lack of a local NBA team caused my sporting interests to sprout elsewhere. My first love was baseball and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nowadays, this fanhood is thoroughly lapsed due to a mixture of three decades’ worth of Pirates ineptitude and MLB’s crooked apathy towards small-market teams. That being said, there are still portions of the MLB structure that I find admirable, one of which being the impetus for this article. I have always found it fun that instead of one singular MVP award, each of the two leagues comprising MLB have their own MVP award¹. As a result, baseball is better at spreading the wealth in its recognition of greatness than any other professional sports league².

I love this approach, though I understand its historical roots result more from the individualism of the two leagues comprising MLB and their deferred formal convergence as opposed to some altruistic instinct to shower praise on multiple players. Regardless, it’s naïve to think that there is only one worthy winner each year and multiple acknowledgements are a harmless way to highlight players’ accomplishments. I ultimately still prefer the NBA’s approach of a singular MVP because I feel that the exclusivity is more impactful and grants more prestige to the winners, thus further glamorizing the significance of its attainment, but I’ll always maintain a soft spot for MLB’s method and I will always inevitably find myself in the late stages of the annual NBA MVP debates contemplating what the landscape would look like had they followed the MLB lead. So, let’s indulge that daydream with today’s hypothetical!

Hypothetical — What if each of the NBA’s two conferences³ had their own MVP award?

1950s and 60s

1956 — Paul Arizin (East) and Bob Pettit (West)
1957 — Bob Cousy and Bob Pettit
1958 — Bill Russell and George Yardley
1959 — Bill Russell and Bob Pettit
1960 — Wilt Chamberlain and Bob Pettit
1961 — Bill Russell and Bob Pettit
1962 — Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson
1963 — Bill Russell and Elgin Baylor
1964 — Oscar Robertson and Wilt Chamberlain
1965 — Bill Russell and Jerry West
1966 — Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West
1967 — Wilt Chamberlain and Nate Thurmond
1968 — Wilt Chamberlain and Lenny Wilkens
1969 — Wes Unseld and Elgin Baylor

Just like the previous articles chronicling MVP runners-up, it is enjoyable to see several of the players who came close to MVP glory without ever winning collect a hypothetical trophy in this exercise. Arizin, Yardley, Thurmond, and Wilkens are all worthy hypothetical winners. Taking things one step further, it’s cool to see Baylor and West not only get one, but two hypothetical wins. Each has a legitimate claim to be the best player to never win the real award, so it’s always enjoyable to see them get some positive attention in these hypotheticals.

I was surprised to find that both Russell and Wilt only increased their tallies by one hypothetical victory each. After digging deeper, it looks like this is down to two reasons. First, competition was fierce in the early and mid-60s. All of Wilt, Russell, Pettit, Oscar, Baylor, and West were in their primes and fighting for the award. Secondly, Wilt and Russell were in the same division for much of their careers. Aside from the 1963 and 1964 seasons, in which Wilt’s Warriors uprooted from Philadelphia to San Francisco, Wilt and Russell both plied their trades in the Eastern Division, thus preventing the possibility of each of them winning the hypothetical award in the same year. Wilt also shifted to the Western Division in 1969 to play with the Los Angeles Lakers, though both players were past their peaks (but still really good) by that point.

The Warriors’ switch from Philadelphia to San Francisco allowed Wilt to win hypothetical awards in both the Eastern and Western divisions. More strangely, Oscar Robertson managed wins in both divisions despite the fact that his team did not relocate. This is because the Cincinnati Royals played in the Western Division for the first two years of Oscar’s career before shifting to the Eastern Division for the 1962-63 season.

The quirkiest win of the bunch is Baylor’s hypothetical victory in 1969. Baylor finished in fifth place in the actual MVP race, though the players in first through fourth (Wes Unseld, Willis Reed, Billy Cunningham, and Bill Russell) all played in the Eastern Division, allowing Baylor to swoop in for the hypothetical victory. Every other instance in which a player other than the real-life runner-up gathered a hypothetical victory saw the third-place finisher walk away with the award – Yardley in 1958, Pettit in 1960, Oscar in 1962, and West in 1965. The unfortunate runners-up to miss out in those years were Dolph Schayes, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Oscar Robertson, respectively. This is particularly tough for Schayes, as 1958 was his only realistic shot at a hypothetical MVP in this exercise.

1970s

1970 - Willis Reed (East) and Jerry West (West)
1971 - Willis Reed and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1972 - John Havlicek and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1973 - Dave Cowens and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1974 - Bob McAdoo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1975 - Bob McAdoo and Rick Barry
1976 - Bob McAdoo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1977 - Pete Maravich and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1978 - George Gervin and Bill Walton
1979 - Moses Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Wow, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was really good. Kareem absolutely dominated the Western Conference in the 1970s, collecting seven of the ten possible awards. On a smaller scale, both Reed and McAdoo enjoyed brief stints of dominance in the East. Just like the last section, we get some new all-time greats grabbing hypothetical victories here in Havlicek, Barry, Maravich, and Gervin. All four are well-deserving.

The most interesting facet of this era is the sheer silliness of conference alignment and the hypothetical MVP wins that resulted. Milwaukee was a Western Conference team during Kareem’s stint with the team in the early and mid-70s. Both San Antonio and Houston were in the East in the late 70s, so Gervin’s win in 1978 and Moses’ win in 1979 occurred in the East despite playing for teams west of the Mississippi River. Further confusing things, all of Indiana, Chicago, and Kansas City played in the Western Conference during the same period.

In the 1950s and 60s, there was only one instance of a player with a real-life finish lower than third winning the hypothetical award, the aforementioned Baylor win in 1969. In the 1970s, there are four such instances. Jerry West and Dave Bing missed out in 1971 due to playing in the West behind Kareem, allowing fourth-place Reed to get the hypothetical victory; Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain missed out in 1972 due to playing in the West behind Kareem, allowing fourth-place Havlicek to win; Dave Cowens and Elvin Hayes missed out in 1975 due to playing in the East behind McAdoo, allowing fourth-place Barry to win; and George Gervin and Elvin Hayes missed out in 1979 due to playing in the East behind Moses, allowing fourth-place Kareem to get the win. The only other runner-up to miss out this decade is Bill Walton in 1977. That’s tough luck for both Jerry West and Elvin Hayes, each of whom had multiple top-three finishes in the 70s (top-two finishes in the case of West) yet couldn’t grab a hypothetical victory from the bunch, particularly for Hayes who did not get any other wins whereas West had three others.

1980s

1980 - Julius Erving (East) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (West)
1981 - Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1982 - Larry Bird and Moses Malone
1983 - Moses Malone and Magic Johnson
1984 - Larry Bird and Magic Johnson
1985 - Larry Bird and Magic Johnson
1986 - Larry Bird and Magic Johnson
1987 - Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson
1988 - Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson
1989 - Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson

Kareem carried over his dominance in the West for a couple more seasons in 1980 and 1981, resulting in nine wins in twelve years. He passes off the torch to teammate Magic Johnson who astonishingly closes out the decade with seven straight wins! This is particularly impressive given that 1987 and 1989 are the only two instances where Magic won the award in real life. If it wasn’t for his two all-time great contemporaries in Bird and Jordan, Magic would’ve had quite a haul of real MVPs in the 80s. Speaking of which, given that Bird had four real-life runner-up appearances in the 80s, it’s surprising to see him only gather one additional hypothetical win here. That being said, it is so fitting to see three straight years of Bird and Magic as co-winners. Then, to close out the decade, we get three straight years of Jordan and Magic co-winning.

This is by far the fewest number of individuals to win trophies in a decade. Despite Kareem’s dominance in the 70s, there were still eleven separate players to win a hypothetical award. There were even fewer in the 60s with nine. Yet, in the 80s there are only six! Each of those six actually won MVPs in real-life too, so there are no new faces in this section. Furthermore, the only two new players to even come close were Bernard King in 1984 and Dominique Wilkins in 1986, both of whom missed out due to playing in the East with Bird. As noted above, Bird himself missed out as runner-up on three occasions in 1981, 1983, and 1988, playing behind Erving, Moses, and Jordan in the East in each instance. Lastly, Moses adds his name to the small list of players to win awards in both conferences.

1990s

1990 - Charles Barkley (East) and Magic Johnson (West)
1991 - Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson
1992 - Michael Jordan and Clyde Drexler
1993 - Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley
1994 - Scottie Pippen and Hakeem Olajuwon
1995 - Shaquille O’Neal and David Robinson
1996 - Michael Jordan and David Robinson
1997 - Michael Jordan and Karl Malone
1998 - Michael Jordan and Karl Malone
1999 - Alonzo Mourning and Karl Malone

Similar to Kareem last decade, Magic extends his dominance for a couple seasons into the 90s, giving him an unmatched nine straight Western Conference wins. Who knows how many more he may have added had he not retired. Jordan adds another six hypothetical wins this decade, giving him nine total. Given Jordan’s absence in 1994 and 1995, the 1990 season in which Charles Barkley grabbed the hypothetical win in the East is the only instance in Jordan’s ten seasons with the Bulls from 1987 to 1998 in which he did not win the hypothetical award. Barkley also adds his name to the list of players to win in both conferences.

Drexler, Pippen, and Mourning are the only new winners here. As usual, all are worthy and welcome. Barkley, Karl Malone, and David Robinson each add a new hypothetical trophy to their real-life haul, though Olajuwon was surprisingly unable to add any more. He did miss out as runner-up in 1993 behind Barkley in the West though, as did Robinson as runner-up in 1994 behind Hakeem. Hakeem’s surprising lack of legitimate MVP consideration at the peak of his career is always a surprise to me.

2000s

2000 - Alonzo Mourning (East) and Shaquille O’Neal (West)
2001 - Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan
2002 - Jason Kidd and Tim Duncan
2003 - Tracy McGrady and Tim Duncan
2004 - Jermaine O’Neal and Kevin Garnett
2005 - Shaquille O’Neal and Steve Nash
2006 - LeBron James and Steve Nash
2007 - LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki
2008 - Kevin Garnett and Kobe Brynat
2009 - LeBron James and Kobe Bryant

Two things immediately jumped out on this list. First, Shaq becomes the first player to win a hypothetical MVP with three separate teams. Second, 2007 is the second instance, joining 1969, in which a real-life fifth-place finisher wins the hypothetical award, as LeBron wins top spot in the East as a result of Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, and Tim Duncan finishing second, third, and fourth in the West behind Dirk Nowitzki. The other instances of a player missing out are Garnett in 2000 behind Shaq in the West, Garnett and Kobe in 2003 behind Duncan in the West, Duncan in 2004 behind Garnett in the West, and Chris Paul in 2008 in the West behind Kobe. This was Paul’s best chance to win a hypothetical award, though the others all obviously got separate wins. The West in the 2000s was a bloodbath.

Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady, and Jermaine O’Neal are the new players to grab a hypothetical win. Jermaine O’Neal is the first player to appear throughout this entire exercise who likely won’t make the Basketball Hall of Fame. An MVP win in 2004 may have been enough to turn the tide in his favor though. He was a great player and the leader of some legit title-contending Pacers teams.

Alonzo Mourning grabbing a second hypothetical win also deserves some praise. Mourning’s peak years placed him among the very best in the league in the post-Jordan era. It’s unfortunate that his injury history precluded him from extending this peak into his early 30s, as it is very possible that he may have been able to add a few more top-three MVP finishes. Instead, his back-to-back hypothetical wins in the East will have to suffice.

2010s and 20s

2010 - LeBron James (East) and Kevin Durant (West)
2011 - Derrick Rose and Kobe Bryant
2012 - LeBron James and Kevin Durant
2013 - LeBron James and Kevin Durant
2014 - LeBron James and Kevin Durant
2015 - LeBron James and Stephen Curry
2016 - LeBron James and Stephen Curry
2017 - LeBron James and Russell Westbrook
2018 - LeBron James and James Harden
2019 - Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden
2020 - Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James
2021 - Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic

LeBron was ultimately unable to match Magic’s streak of nine straight hypothetical MVP wins, though he does move into first place with the most total hypothetical wins at twelve, an astounding haul and three more than the next closest competitors: Magic, Kareem, and Jordan with nine each. He also joins Shaq as the only players to win hypothetical awards on three different teams.

There were two real-life fourth-place finishers to grab a hypothetical win in this decade: Kobe Bryant in 2011 due to Dwight Howard and LeBron being in the East behind Rose, and LeBron in 2017 due to James Harden and Kawhi Leonard playing behind Westbrook in the West. Harden and Kawhi also missed out in their real-life runner-up finishes in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Harden still managed to grab a hypothetical win in 2019 to go along with his real-life win in 2018, but Kawhi is unfortunate that neither of his real-life top-three finishes resulted in a hypothetical win here.

Kevin Durant is also a big winner here. Larry Bird had four real-life runner-up nods in the 80s, but only converted one of those into an additional hypothetical win. Durant, however, converts all three of his real-life runner-up nods in the 10s into hypothetical victories. Apart from Durant though, LeBron is the only player who saw a significant increase in his hypothetical wins in this decade.

Conclusion

All in all, this was a fun hypothetical in that it didn’t take away from the players who won the award in real life, but it expanded the scope of the award to distinguish even more of the players who were in contention. As a result, the players leading the pack in terms of most real-life MVP awards like Kareem, LeBron, Jordan, and Russell weren’t penalized, while the players who barely missed out over the years had the chance to jump in. In our next article, we’ll dive deeper into some analysis of this data and review the new NBA historical landscape in the wake of these hypothetical changes.

¹ Just in case anyone is unaware and needs context, Major League Baseball (MLB) is comprised of the National League and the American League. Each of these two leagues were founded separately and were operated independently from each other for nearly a century. Their champions began annually playing each other in the World Series in 1903, but everything else about the two leagues remained separate. As a result, each had their own MVPs (though the awards weren’t formally established until 1931) and the practice has remained ever since, even after the two leagues formally joined operations in 2000.

² Even beyond the main MVP award, the Cy Young Award given to each league’s best pitcher delivers even further recognition.

³ Prior to the 1970–71 season, the league was comprised of divisions, not conferences, but the hypothetical remains apt.