Who Has the Most MVP Awards in NBA History? Full List and More

Ever since the 1955–56 campaign, the NBA has presented the prestigious Most Valuable Player award to the player with the most outstanding regular season.

This year, the honor has boiled down to three finalists: Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama, Nuggets center Nikola Jokić and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Ultimately, it was SGA—the lead guard for the NBA’s top team, that came out on top in a stacked race.

MORE NBA MVP: Our Case for All Three Finalists

The win is SGA’s second consecutive MVP victory; the Canadian guard was awarded the top prize ahead of the Thunder's run to the NBA Finals last season. He kept Jokić from winning a fourth career MVP, which would have put him in truly rareified air. This was Wemby's first nomination.

But who has the most NBA awards in league history? There are three players ahead of James and Chamberlain ... two of them are tied at five awards each, while one alone holds the MVP crown. Let's take a peek:

Most MVP awards in NBA history

Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has the most MVP awards in NBA history with a total of six, collected in 1971, ‘72, ’74, ‘76, ’77 and ’80. Three of those prizes came during his time with the Bucks, and three of them during his stint with the Lakers. Across his 20 seasons in the league, Abdul-Jabbar finished in the top five in MVP voting 15 times.

Both Bill Russell and Michael Jordan sit behind Abdul-Jabbar with five MVP awards apiece. Jordan won the prestigious prize in 1988, ’91, ’92, ’96, and ’98—the majority of those during the Bulls’ unstoppable championship run—while Russell proved victorious in 1958, ’61, ’62, ’63 and ’65. The late Russell, of course, was the star of the Celtics dynasty in the 60s, and won a title in all five of his MVP seasons.

And, as previously mentioned, we have LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain holding down the fort with four MVP awards each. James won in 2009, ‘10, ’12 and ’13—with both the Cavaliers and the Heat—while Chamberlain won in 1960, ’66, ’67 and ’68.

NBA players with two or more MVP awards:

Name	Times Won	Years Won
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	6	1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980
Bill Russell	5	1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965
Michael Jordan	5	1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998
Wilt Chamberlain	4	1960, 1966, 1967, 1968
LeBron James	4	2009, 2010, 2012, 2013
Moses Malone	3	1979, 1982, 1983
Larry Bird	3	1984, 1985, 1986
Magic Johnson	3	1987, 1989, 1990
Nikola Jokić	3	2021, 2022, 2024
Bob Pettit	2	1956, 1959
Karl Malone	2	1997, 1999
Tim Duncan	2	2002, 2003
Steve Nash	2	2005, 2006
Stephen Curry	2	2015, 2016
Giannis Antetokounmpo	2	2019, 2020
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	2	2025, 2026

SGA joined this list, which now consists of 16 players, with his win Sunday. Of the multiple-time MVPs, 14 took home awards in back-to-back campaigns.

NBA players with back-to-back MVP awards

So we know which player has the most MVP awards in history ... but how many have pulled off the back-to-back victory?

A total of 14 different guys have done it, most recently Gilgeous-Alexander in 2025 and ‘26 with this year’s win. Before that, it was Nikola Jokić (2021, ‘22), Giannis Antetokounmpo (2019, ’20), Steph Curry (2015, ’16), LeBron James (2009, ‘10 and ‘12, 13), and Steve Nash (2006, ’07).

Even earlier than that, Tim Duncan did it in 2002 and ’03; Michael Jordan in 1991 and ’92; Magic Johnson in 1989 and ‘90; Larry Bird in 1984, ’85 and ’86; and Moses Malone in 1982 and ’83.

And, of course, there was Abdul-Jabbar in 1976 and ’77 as well as 1971 and ’72; Wilt Chamberlain in 1966, ’67 and ’68; and Bill Russell in 1961, ’62 and ’63.

Dominance of international players

SGA’s victory marked the eighth consecutive season in which the prize is given to a player born outside the U.S.

This current run of international dominance first began in 2019 and ’20, when Antetokounmpo, also known as the “Greek Freak,” took the award in consecutive seasons. Jokić, who is from Serbia, followed in 2021 and ’22, before the 76ers’ Cameroon-born Joel Embiid won in ’23. Jokić then won again in ’24, before the Canadian-bred SGA won in 2025 and ‘26.

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