Top 10 Best NBA Players to Never Win MVP
The MVP award is one of the most prestigious honors in the NBA, celebrating the players who had the biggest impact on the game each season. Yet, not every legendary player gets their moment in the MVP spotlight - even some of the greatest to ever play the game. There are icons in basketball history who consistently dominated, led their teams to victory, and put up jaw-dropping stats, but for one reason or another, never took home an MVP trophy. The reasons for this vary: sometimes it's because they played alongside other MVP-caliber stars, or they happened to peak in a crowded era of exceptional talent, or maybe they were just consistently great but never had that one breakout season that grabbed enough attention.
Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. Best NBA Season: 2008-2009
30.2 points per game
5.0 rebounds per game
7.5 assists per game
1.3 blocks per game
2.2 steals per game
Team Record: 43-39
Jerry Alan West was an American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. As one of the greatest long-range shooters in history, he achieved amazing numbers before the three-point shot was instituted. It's not unrealistic to assume he would have made two or three "threes" per game, which would have brought his career numbers on par with Chamberlain and Jordan.
Best NBA Season: 1969-1970
31.2 points per game
4.6 rebounds per game
7.5 assists per game
Team Record: 46-36
Somehow, he averaged over 30 points and did not win MVP.
John Joseph "Hondo" Havlicek is a retired American professional basketball player who competed for 16 seasons with the Boston Celtics, winning eight NBA championships, four of them coming in his first four seasons. Best NBA Season: 1970-1971
28.9 points per game
9.0 rebounds per game
7.5 assists per game
Team Record: 44-38
He averaged a double-double and had the highest points per game average besides Wilt Chamberlain. Bill Russell won MVP with 18.9 points and 23.6 rebounds per game, which sounds good. But Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain also had double-doubles. (Wilt should have won with an insane 50.4 points and 25.6 rebounds per game.) The NBA's choice of Bill Russell was a poor one in my opinion, and you could argue that Elgin Baylor had better stats than Bill Russell (and obviously Wilt Chamberlain).
In the 1961-62 season, he had the highest scoring average in history for any player not named Wilt Chamberlain. Yes, it was higher than Michael Jordan's best season. Nobody remembers the guy who came in second.
Elvin Ernest Hayes is an American retired professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma-mater Houston Cougars. Best NBA Season: 1970-1971
28.7 points per game
16.6 rebounds per game
2.3 assists per game
Team Record: 40-42
Isiah Lord Thomas III is an American former basketball player who played professionally for the Detroit Pistons in the National Basketball Association. Best NBA Season: 1984-1985
21.2 points per game
4.5 rebounds per game
13.9 assists per game
0.3 blocks per game
2.3 steals per game
Team Record: 46-36
Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player and current head coach of the Georgetown University men's basketball team. Best NBA Season: 1989-1990
28.6 points per game
10.9 rebounds per game
2.2 assists per game
4.0 blocks per game
1.0 steals per game
Team Record: 45-37
John Houston Stockton is an American retired professional basketball player. He spent his entire professional playing career as a point guard for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association, from 1984 to 2003. Stockton is regarded as one of the best point guards of all time, holding the NBA... read more Best NBA Season: 1989-1990
17.2 points per game
2.6 rebounds per game
14.5 assists per game
0.2 blocks per game
2.7 steals per game
Team Record: 55-27
Christopher Emmanuel Paul is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. Best NBA Season: 2008-2009
22.8 points per game
5.5 rebounds per game
11.0 assists per game
0.1 blocks per game
2.8 steals per game
Team Record: 49-33
George Gervin, nicknamed "The Iceman," is an American retired professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association and National Basketball Association for the Virginia Squires, San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls. Best NBA Season: 1979-1980
33.1 points per game
5.2 rebounds per game
2.6 assists per game
1.0 blocks per game
1.4 steals per game
The Newcomers
Rajon Pierre Rondo is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. Best NBA Season: 2011-12
12 points per game
5 rebounds per game
12 assists per game
2 steals per game
Team Record: 39-27 (lockout season)
In the playoffs, he ramped it up!
17.3 points per game
7 rebounds per game
12 assists per game
2.4 steals per game
He led the Celtics to within one win of the 2012 Finals.
Christopher Wesson Bosh is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association.
Jacques Dominique Wilkins is an American retired professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association.
Paul Anthony Pierce is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association. Best NBA season: 2002-03
26 points per game
7.3 rebounds per game
4.5 assists per game
2 steals per game
1 block per game
Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr. is an American retired professional basketball player who is best known for his career in the National Basketball Association, where he played as both a shooting guard and small forward. Best NBA season: 2002-03
32 Points per game
6.5 rebounds per game
5.5 assists per game
1.7 steals per game
1 block per game
Team record: 42-40
Clyde Austin "The Glide" Drexler is an American retired professional basketball player. During his career, he was a ten-time All-Star, and named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.
Yao Ming is a Chinese basketball executive and retired professional basketball player who played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association.