MVP Winners by Position (Part One)

The NBA has historically been a big man’s league. The bigger and stronger you are, the closer you can get to the hoop, and the better you’ll be at putting the ball through it on offense and out of it on defense. The league MVP award has, with a few exceptions, been reflective of this, with centers and power forwards being more likely to grab a win over the course of the league’s history than guards and wings. In fact, centers won the award nearly every single year until the arrival of Bird and Magic. Recently, the award has shifted more towards players with quickness, shooting, and playmaking, but the past few years have seen another minor shift back to big men with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Joel Embiid grabbing the MVP spotlight. I point this out to illustrate that the MVP award is fittingly reflective of the style of game played in its era. I think this is a great attribute of the award, as it is a simple but effective snapshot of the types of skills needed to succeed in any given season.

And yet, every position on the floor is important. Big men still need guards to pass them the ball. Playmaking wings still need rim-rolling big men. And everyone needs teammates who play defense well enough to allow their team to accomplish a winning season in order to be considered for the award. Since every position on the floor is important, shouldn’t the best player at each position get some recognition? This line of thinking is what led to the hypothetical of this two-part series of articles…

• Hypothetical — What if the NBA awarded the MVP to players of each position?

Just a few notes before we jump in. First, I’ve assigned players a position based on where they were slotted on that year’s All-NBA team. For example, Bob Pettit was First Team All-NBA at forward in 1956, but First Team All-NBA at center in 1957. As such, Pettit is designated as the MVP forward in 1956, but the MVP center in 1957. Secondly, there are a few years in which an entire position of players did not receive a single MVP vote¹. In those instances, I’ll award the player(s) from that position on First Team All-NBA that year with the hypothetical MVP. Obviously, this results in a few ties. Lastly, given the fluidity of position and the already limited number of players who receive MVP votes, I’ve lumped all point guards and shooting guards into a singular “guard” grouping and all small forwards and power forwards into a singular “forward” grouping. Therefore, there will be three hypothetical winners in each season at the positions of guard, forward, and center. Hopefully this reduces the number of players who grab a hypothetical win despite having only a few MVP votes.

As always, we’ll break this down by decade beginning in 1956 and split the series into two parts.

1950s and 60s

• 1956 — Bob Cousy (Guard), Bob Pettit (Forward), Neil Johnston² (Center)
• 1957 — Bob Cousy, Paul Arizin, Bob Pettit
• 1958 — Bob Cousy, Dolph Schayes, Bill Russell
• 1959 — Bob Cousy, Bob Pettit, Bill Russell
• 1960 — Bob Cousy, Bob Pettit, Wilt Chamberlain
• 1961 — Oscar Robertson, Bob Pettit, Bill Russell
• 1962 — Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Bill Russell
• 1963 — Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Bill Russell
• 1964 — Oscar Robertson, Bob Pettit, Wilt Chamberlain
• 1965 — Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor/Jerry Lucas (tie), Bill Russell
• 1966 — Jerry West, Jerry Lucas, Wilt Chamberlain
• 1967 — Oscar Robertson, Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain
• 1968 — Lenny Wilkens, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain
• 1969 — Earl Monroe/Oscar Robertson (tie), Billy Cunningham, Wes Unseld

One of the things I love about the positional breakdown of MVP winners is the run of wins we’ll see from players throughout the exercise. It’s interesting to see that Cousy spent half a decade as the inarguable top dog at guard in the league, only to then pass the torch to Oscar who ruled over his own half decade of dominance at the position. In fact, Oscar had the most hypothetical wins of any player in this era with an impressive haul of seven.

Conversely, we still have Wilt and Russell battling things out year after year at the center spot and, aside from a brief streak from Pettit, mostly fluctuation at the forward spot too. There are also a couple of ties in 1965 and 1969, the former of which had no forwards receiving MVP votes in the available voting records and the latter of which had no guards receiving MVP votes, so the winners at those positions in those years defaulted to the First Team All-NBA players.

There are two individuals who pop up in this list who haven’t gotten hypothetical MVP wins in any of our previous exercises: Neil Johnston in 1956 and Earl Monroe in 1969. Oddly, Johnston did not receive any MVP votes in 1956 despite finishing in the top four in scoring and rebounding for a Philadelphia Warriors team which had the most wins in that regular season. Johnston also led the league in win shares and field goal percentage. Instead of Johnston, the voters focused most of the praise for the Warriors’ success on Johnston’s teammate Paul Arizin, who was also deserving of the attention, though Arizin misses out on the hypothetical MVP at the forward position that year to Bob Pettit. Johnston is already in the hall of fame, but he’s still very much overlooked by today’s generation of fans, especially considering the fact that he was the league’s scoring champ three times over. Johnston also missed out on the NBA’s 25th anniversary team, the NBA’s 35th anniversary team, and the NBA at 50 and NBA at 75 lists. Johnston may be the one player from this entire exercise who would have most benefited from an MVP win³.

Monroe was in his sophomore season with the Bullets in 1969, but he still managed to blitz the league with his scoring and, along with rookie Wes Unseld, led the team to a league-leading 57 wins. Much like how Johnston missed out on MVP hype to his teammate Paul Arizin, Monroe similarly ceded much of the MVP attention to Unseld. Still, Monroe deservedly grabbed a First Team All-NBA spot due to his relentless scoring and electric style. Unlike Johnston, Monroe has remained in the general NBA consciousness and this hypothetical MVP win wouldn’t have been as critical to his legacy as Johnston’s would have been.

1970s

• 1970 — Jerry West, Billy Cunningham/Connie Hawkins (tie), Willis Reed
• 1971 — Jerry West, John Havlicek, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• 1972 — Jerry West, John Havlicek, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• 1973 — Tiny Archibald, John Havlicek, Dave Cowens
• 1974 — Walt Frazier, Elvin Hayes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• 1975 — Tiny Archibald, Elvin Hayes, Bob McAdoo
• 1976 — Dave Bing, Rick Barry, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• 1977 — Pete Maravich, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• 1978 — George Gervin, Walter Davis, Bill Walton
• 1979 — George Gervin, Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone

The 1970s have the most turmoil of any decade we’ll see in this entire exercise. Nineteen separate players win hypothetical MVPs in this decade⁴. This results in only two runs of three years of success throughout the decade, with Jerry West winning three straight at guard from 1970 to 1972 and John Havlicek winning three straight at forward from 1971 to 1973. However, although he never won three straight, Kareem did manage five wins in seven years despite stiff competition at center. This overall lack of consistency resulted in five different guards winning the award from 1974 to 1978 and four different forwards winning from 1975 to 1978. This decade was pandemonium, though there are a few players who deserve to be highlighted.

Billy Cunningham’s win at forward in 1969 means his 1970 win this decade gives him back to back victories. Cunningham had been a key player on some very strong 76ers teams from 1966 through 1968, including their title run in 1967, though he was low in the pecking order due to talented teammates like Hal Greer, Chet Walker, Wali Jones, Luke Jackson, and, most of all, Wilt Chamberlain. But Wilt’s 1968 departure from the team marked a clear transition point in which Cunningham became the undisputed star of the team. Cunningham’s minutes per game jumped by 12 and his stats increased across the board as a result, with his scoring average rising by 6 up to 24.8 ppg, his rebounds rising by 5 to 12.8 per game, and his win shares rising by 3 up to 9.0. More importantly, he kept the 76ers in the category of contenders with 55 wins⁵. He improved even more the following season to cement his status as one of the premier forwards in the league and remained a star player for two more years before jumping to the ABA, where he won an outright league MVP award in 1973.

My devotion to Connie Hawkins is well-documented on this site, so I love seeing him get a win in 1970. The Hawk is one of the NBA’s biggest what-ifs in history, though everything came together perfectly for him in the 1969–70 season. Hawkins was a 27-year-old rookie and led the Suns to a 26-win turnaround and their first ever playoff spot⁶. Hawkins posted a 24/10/4 stat line with strong efficiency and highlight reel plays, helping to draw the attention which put Phoenix on the radar for casual NBA fans. Hawkins never quite reached these heights again in his career, but for one season he was able to reach his potential as one of the best players in the world.

Walt Frazier seemed to always be just on the outside looking in for every one of these hypothetical MVP exercises, so its great to see him finally grab a hypothetical win in 1974. Clyde was tremendous in 1974, averaging 20/6/7 with two steals per game, grabbing First Team All-Defense, finishing fifth in WS, BPM, and VORP, and leading the Knicks to 49 wins. Incredibly, a strong case could be made that this was actually only his sixth or seventh best season as a pro, as his stats, advanced numbers, and team success were as good or sometimes significantly better for the five preceding seasons and the following season. As popular as he was at the time, I still wonder whether his greatness was truly appreciated in the moment or if he was overshadowed by the greatness of other guards like Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Tiny Archibald and teammates like Willis Reed.

Dave Bing’s 1976 win is similar to Frazier’s. Bing had a brilliant career, but by 1976 he was past his prime and even playing his first season with the Washington Bullets, away from the Detroit Pistons with whom he had his most success over the first nine years of his career. He played several strong seasons in Detroit, including 1968 when he led the league in scoring⁷ and what was undoubtedly his best year in 1971 when he averaged 27/4/5 with career bests in win shares and efficiency. Despite this, 1976 is the year in which he happened to receive the most MVP votes of any guard⁸. Bing was solid in 1976 but not spectacular, averaging 16/3/6 with average advanced numbers. He was also arguably the fourth best player on the team behind Phil Chenier, Elvin Hayes, and Wes Unseld, but, for whatever reason, he got the most MVP attention. While it’s great to see Bing get a hypothetical win, it would’ve been more satisfying to see it come as a result of one of his prime performances.

Lastly, let’s take a look at Walter Davis’ 1978 win. Like Hawkins before him, Davis took the league by storm as a rookie and led the Suns to an impressive turnaround and a return to the playoffs. Davis averaged 24/6/3, was efficient with high usage, was top ten in the major advanced metrics, and had a +9 net rating. Despite finishing Second Team All-NBA to Julius Erving and Truck Robinson, his four first-place MVP votes give him the hypothetical MVP at forward⁹. Also like Hawkins, Davis never recaptured his rookie year success but remained a star for several more seasons.

1980s

• 1980 — George Gervin, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• 1981 — George Gervin, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• 1982 — Gus Williams, Larry Bird, Moses Malone
• 1983 — Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone
• 1984 — Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• 1985 — Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone
• 1986 — Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon
• 1987 — Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon
• 1988 — Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon
• 1989 — Magic Johnson, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing

Whereas the 70s are defined by their volatility, the 80s are a decade of consistent runs of greatness. Bird won seven straight hypothetical MVPs at forward to give him the most wins in the decade. This is also the second longest consecutive streak ever, with just one player in a future decade besting it. Magic Johnson also posts a streak of five in a row and would’ve tied Bird at seven in a row if not for Michael Jordan. Hakeem Olajuwon also has a run of three and George Gervin has a run of four dating back to the previous decade. Also, although not consecutive, Moses Malone notches three wins in four years and Kareem notches three wins in five to give him a total of eight wins in fourteen years. That total of eight wins is the most of any player so far, though it will be matched by two players in future decades. Despite all of these impressive runs of consistency, I want to focus on two of the players who show up just once in this decade: Gus Williams and Patrick Ewing.

I find Gus Williams’ 1982 season fascinating. Williams was a key cog in the Sonics’ 1979 title run and followed it up with a Second Team All-NBA performance in 1980, but then he sat out the entirety of the 1981 season in a contract dispute¹⁰. The Sonics bottomed out in 1981 without Williams¹¹, going from 56 wins to 34 and bolstering Williams’ claim to being valuable enough to the team’s success to warrant a new contract. I feel like most players who miss an entire year and come back with a big pay day would regress or even play a bit more passively, but Williams returned to the team in 1982 upon receiving a big new contract for five years and three million dollars and posted the best season of his career. He averaged 23/7/2, sat comfortably among the league leaders in most advanced categories, and, most importantly, helped restore the Sonics’ title hopes with a 52-win record. Williams was solid again for the next few years but fizzled out before his new five-year deal expired, even being traded to the Bullets three years into the deal. Despite the regression, the Sonics must have been supremely satisfied with the bang for their buck they got from Williams in that first year of the deal when he was the best guard in the league.

Despite finishing Second Team All-NBA at center in 1989, Ewing received significantly more MVP votes than Hakeem Olajuwon, who had grabbed the First Team All-NBA spot ahead of him. In fact, Ewing received an impressive eight first-place MVP votes that year despite contending with peak seasons from Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Ewing remained among the five or six best players in the league for the next six years and the MVP votes reflect that accordingly, but Ewing was regularly blocked from First Team All-NBA spots and MVP trophies by Hakeem and David Robinson. However, (spoiler!) Ewing also grabs the hypothetical center MVP in 1990 to go along with his 1989 win to give him back-to-back wins. Over the course of those two seasons, Ewing averaged 25/10/2 and four blocks, had a +12 net rating, posted 60% true shooting (which was among the best in the league at the time), led the Knicks to two winning seasons¹², and grabbed a Second Team All-Defense selection. For a brief period, Ewing was the undisputed top dog at center in the league¹³ and I love that he gets this brief window of time at the top.

Thanks again for reading and we’ll see you in Part 2!

¹ At least not that we know of. There are a few years where MVP voting is incomplete, so it is possible, even likely, that a player from that position did receive a vote and we’re just not aware of it.

² Right off the bat, we have a somewhat controversial hypothetical winner at center. Mel Hutchins received more MVP votes than Johnston in 1956 and Hutchins is largely considered to have played predominantly at center throughout his career. As such, I initially placed Hutchins as the hypothetical winner at center. However, Hutchins is listed as a power forward on Basketball Reference for the 1955–56 season, which makes sense considering he played alongside another traditional center in Larry Foust that year. Given the murkiness around Hutchins’ position, I defaulted to Johnston due to his spot as First Team All-NBA center, but I wouldn’t argue if someone felt that Hutchins was the rightful winner here.

³ It is very possible that Johnston may have won an MVP award prior to 1956 if the award had existed. He led the league in scoring and win shares in 1953, 1954, and 1955. However, his teams were abysmal in 1953 and 1954, and just average in 1955 with a 33–39 record. That being said, he also led the league in rebounding and PER in 1955, and was top five in FG%, TS%, and free throw rate. Despite the losing record, I think he had a legit shot at the award in 1955 had it existed.

⁴ The 2010s are just behind the 1970s with a total of eighteen players making an appearance, but none of the other decades come close. The 90s had thirteen, the 60s had twelve, and the 80s and 00s each had eleven.

⁵ However, they flamed out in the playoffs that year losing in the first round to the Celtics four games to one.

⁶ While Hawk was undoubtedly the best player on the team, he wasn’t playing with a bunch of nobodies. This was a really solid supporting cast including the likes of Gail Goodrich, Paul Silas, Dick Van Arsdale, Neal Walk in his rookie year.

⁷ Technically Oscar Robertson led the league with a 29.2 average to Bing’s 27.1, but the league’s scoring title was determined by total points prior to the 1968–69 season. Since Oscar played just 65 games and Bing played 79, Bing ended up running away with the award.

⁸ Bing had higher MVP finishes in 1968 when he finished fourth with a 0.183 award share and 1971 when he finished third with a 0.153 share, but he missed out on the hypothetical trophy in each of those years to Lenny Wilkens and Jerry West, respectively.

⁹ Weirdly, Davis’ counterpart at forward on Second Team All-NBA, Maurice Lucas, also had more MVP votes than First Teamers Julius Erving and Truck Robinson.

¹⁰ It’s incredibly rare for a player to voluntarily skip an entire season, though we did just see something similar in the current 2021–22 season in which Ben Simmons missed the entire campaign following some disagreements (to put it mildly) with the 76ers. However, Simmons did just undergo back surgery so perhaps there were some physical ailments preventing his return after all. That whole situation is a mess!

¹¹ Granted, it’s reductive to lay the team’s performance as solely due to Williams’ absence. The team also lost star player Dennis Johnson prior to this season as well as a critical veteran and role player in Paul Silas. Furthermore, Paul Westphal, the star player for whom Dennis Johnson was traded, appeared in only 36 games due to injury.

¹² These two seasons weren’t exactly clear sailing though, as there was a fair share of turmoil behind the scenes. Still, these seasons did help to turn the corner toward the run of success the Knicks had in the 90s though.

¹³ Granted, David Robinson had not yet joined the league in the 1988–89 season.