NBA Conference Finals Most Valuable Player Award
Awarded forMost valuable player of the NBA Conference Finals
Presented byNational Basketball Association
History
First award2022
Most recentJimmy Butler (East)
Nikola Jokić (West)
National Basketball Association awards and honors
Team awards
Individual awards
Honors

The NBA Conference Finals Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 2022 NBA playoffs to the top performing players in the NBA Conference Finals.[1] The award is decided by a panel of media members, who cast votes after the conclusion of the finals. The person with the highest number of votes wins the award. The Larry Bird Trophy is awarded to the MVP from the Eastern Conference and the Earvin "Magic" Johnson Trophy for the Western Conference.[2] Their namesakes, Hall of Fame players Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, both made their NBA debuts in 1979, and their bicoastal rivalry in the 1980s helped revive and popularize the league.[1][3][4] The inaugural recipients were Jayson Tatum from the Eastern Conference, and Stephen Curry from the Western Conference.

Winners

^ Denotes player who is still active in the NBA
* Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player had received the Conference Finals MVP award
Team (X) Denotes the number of times a player from this team has received the Conference Finals MVP award

Eastern Conference

Year Player Position Nationality Team
2022 Jayson Tatum^ Forward  United States Boston Celtics
2023 Jimmy Butler^ Forward  United States Miami Heat

Western Conference

Year Player Position Nationality Team
2022 Stephen Curry^ Guard  United States Golden State Warriors
2023 Nikola Jokić^ Center  Serbia Denver Nuggets

Teams

Awards Teams Years
1 Boston Celtics 2022
Golden State Warriors 2022
Denver Nuggets 2023
Miami Heat 2023

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Feldman, Dan (May 12, 2022). "NBA to name conference finals MVPs". NBC Sports. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  2. ^ "NBA introduces new lineup of postseason hardware featuring an evolution of the Larry O'Brien Trophy" (Press release). NBA. May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  3. ^ Goldsberry, Kirk (May 12, 2022). "NBA unveils new trophies, awards honoring Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson". ESPN. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  4. ^ Lynch, Mike (May 26, 2022). "The NBA's Conference Finals MVP Award Is New This Year. But What If We Had Always Had It?". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
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