Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award

The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award is awarded to the best player of the championship series of the National Basketball Association since 1969. In 2009, NBA Commissioner David Stern decided the trophy after Bill Russell named.

Election process

The award will be given immediately after the deciding game of the series, the selection of the jury is therefore often spontaneously and is aimed more after the last game when, after the entire final series. The best example is the allocation of 1980 Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers, who showed outstanding performance only in the sixth game of the NBA Finals in 1980, while in the five previous games Kareem Abdul- Jabbar was the stand-out performer.

There is also an unwritten law in awarding the Finals MVP Awards, that only one player from the winning team must get the award (the only exception to this rule was the award to Jerry West, 1969). This led (albeit rarely) to that is " forced " searched the winning team in an MVP, while the best player in the finals series came from the losing team. The best example of this is the NBA Finals in 2004, where Chauncey Billups was honored by the Detroit Pistons, even though it was the Lakers best player in the series Shaquille O'Neal of the defeated Los Angeles.

Award winners

Most Finals MVP awards won Michael Jordan with a total of six ( 1991-93, 96-98 ). The most recent winners were Magic Johnson at the age of 20 years and 10 months (1980) and Tim Duncan with 23 years and 2 months (1999). The oldest winner was Kareem Abdul- Jabbar with 38 years and 2 months ( 1985) and Michael Jordan at the age of 35 years and 4 months (1998).

The first European player, who was elected Finals MVP, was the Frenchman Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs, who could lead his team in the 2006/07 season to the NBA title.

The first German player who was elected Finals MVP, was Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks, who could lead his team to the title in the 2010/11 season.

Evidence

Ceremony (Basketball)
Basketball Players
List (Basketball)
National Basketball Association

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