Back-to-Back NBA MVPs

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
May 2, 2010

Back-to-Back NBA MVPs

LeBron James

On May 2, the NBA announced LeBron James had won his second Most Valuable Player award for the regular season. And in doing so, the Cavaliers star, who averaged 29.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists this season, became the 10th player to be named MVP in back-to-back seasons. Here's a look at who else won consecutive MVP awards in their career.

Steve Nash

In 2004-05, his first season back with the Suns, Nash claimed his first MVP trophy after averaging 11.5 assists and helping Phoenix to a 62-20 record. He earned the award the following season after, again, leading the Suns to an unexpectedly successful run (54-28) and averaging career-highs in points (18.8), rebounds (4.2), field-goal percentage (.512) and free-throw percentage (.921) and a league-leading 10.5 assists.

Tim Duncan

Coming off two straight playoff disappointments with the Spurs, Duncan averaged career-highs in scoring (25.5 points per game) and rebounds (12.7) to claim his first MVP award in 2002. He earned the honor the next season while also winning his second NBA championship with the Spurs.

Michael Jordan

The Bulls legend and current Bobcats owner won the MVP award five times in his career, but he won two consecutively in 1991 and '92. His second trophy came after he averaged 31.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game and led the Bulls to an NBA Finals win over the Lakers.

Magic Johnson

Johnson averaged 22.5 points, 12.8 assists and 7.9 rebounds per game during the 1988-89 season, winning the MVP while leading the Lakers to the NBA Finals. The next year, Magic's first without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he repeated as league MVP, barely wavering his statistical production: 22.3 points, 11.5 assists and 6.6 rebounds per game.

Larry Bird

At the height of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry of the '80s, Larry Legend took home a trio of MVP awards in a three-year span, during which the C's made the Finals every season. They won two of them, while Bird averaged a double-double over those three years.

Moses Malone

Malone's second and third MVP awards came in two straight seasons, but on different teams. In 1982, Moses finished his Rockets career by leading the league in rebounding and minutes played, and finishing second in scoring. After joining a star-studded Sixers roster that included Julius Erving and Maurice Cheeks, Malone won MVP honors again in 1983, becoming the only player to win the award back-to-back with two different teams.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

From 1970 to 1980, the man formerly known as Lew Alcindor won six of the 10 MVP awards. His first back-to-back campaign as the league's leading man came as a part of the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971 (when he took the Bucks to a title) and '72 (his second straight season averaging more than 30 and 16 per night). Four years later, Kareem took home two straight MVPs as a member of the Lakers.

Wilt Chamberlain

A four-time winner of the MVP award, Wilt "the Stilt" won the award three consecutive years in the late '60s. In 1966-67, the big man also finished third in the NBA in assists (7.8), while still leading the league in points (33.5) and rebounds (24.6) and leading Philly to the NBA title.

Bill Russell

Over an eight-year span, Celtics center Bill Russell won five MVP awards. He won the award three years in a row starting in 1961. Though Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points per game and had his legendary 100-point game in 1962, Russell won the MVP after averaging a career-high 18.9 points per game and helping the Celtics became the first team to win 60 games in a season. Boston won the NBA title all three years of Russell's consecutive MVP wins.