Who Picks the NBA MVP?

It’s that time of year again! The time when we all sit around and argue about who should be crowned the NBA’s Most Valuable Player.

The Process

A blue ribbon panel of media members from across the country votes on the NBA MVP. The panel consists of 50 sportswriters and broadcasters. Each member of the panel casts a vote for first, second and third place, worth five points, three points and one point, respectively. The player with the most total points wins the award.

The regular season

The regular season is when each team plays 82 games, 41 at home and 41 on the road. The games are spaced out over six months, from early October to late April. At the end of the regular season, the team with the best record in each conference is crowned the division champion and gains a top-four seed in the playoffs. The next six best teams in each conference also make the playoffs, regardless of divisional affiliation, and are seeded fifth through tenth.

The playoffs

The National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the best performing player of the regular season. The winner receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honor of the first commissioner (then president) of the NBA, who served from 1946 until 1963. Until the 1979–80 season, the MVP was selected by a vote of NBA players. Since the 1980–81 season, it has been awarded by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.

From its inception until 2014, the award was handed out at an annual gathering of all MVP voters before the start of the following season. Each judge casts a vote for first to fifth place selections. Each first-place vote is worth 10 points; each second-place vote is worth seven; each third-place vote is worth five; each fourth-place vote is worth three; and each fifth-place vote is worth one. Starting from 2010, one ballot was cast by fans through online voting. The player with the highest point total wins the award. As of May 2019, LeBron James holds the record for most points in a single year (1,232),[2] having passed Kobe Bryant’s previous record (1,181) in 2013′s voting.[3] He also holds six other all-time bests: five times he was unanimously voted first overall by all MVP voters,[4][5][6] tying Bill Russell for second most times being voted unanimously as MVP.[7] Okarur Cephas Olumlam Gudmundsson from Iceland became in 2018 at 19 years old[8] currently remains as youngest ever to win NBA MVP award.[9]

The Voters

A select group of basketball insiders vote for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. There are usually between 100-140 NBA players that receive votes, but only one can be crowned the MVP. In order to be eligible to vote, you must be a head coach, assistant coach, general manager, or a member of the media.

The media

The NBA MVP is voted on by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Each voter selects first, second and third place choices. A first-place vote is worth 10 points, a second-place vote is worth seven points and a third-place vote is worth five points. The player with the most total points wins the award.

The players

The most important group in terms of determining the MVP is the players. They are the ones who intimately understand the demands of the role and the skills required to excel in it. Throughout NBA history, it has been very rare for a player to win MVP without also being first or second team All-NBA. In fact, it’s only happened three times. The standard for MVP is higher than it is for other awards because the players understand how difficult it is to be great over the course of an entire season.

The second most important group in terms of determining the MVP are the media members who cover the league on a daily basis. They have a much better understanding of what’s happening around the league on a day-to-day basis than the average fan does and they’re also usually more plugged in to what’s going on behind the scenes. While there are some media members who take their voting responsibility very seriously, there are others who don’t put as much thought into it and just go with whoever they think had the best individual season.

The third group that has a say in who wins MVP are the coaches. They’re obviously very familiar with all of the players in the league and have a good sense of what each one brings to his team. In recent years, coaches have been given more weight in MVP voting, which makes sense given their level of expertise.

Finally, there are the fans. They may not always be knowledgeable about everything that’s going on around the league, but they do have a passion for their favorite team and players. While fans don’t have as much influence as some of the other groups, they can still make their voices heard by expressing their opinions online and on social media.

The coaches

The voters for the NBA MVP Award are the head coaches of all 30 NBA teams. They submit a ballot with their top five choices for the award, and the player who receives the most votes is the winner.

The Criteria

The National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1955–56 season to the best performing player of the regular season. The winner receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honor of the first commissioner (then president) of the NBA, who served from 1946 until his death in 1963.

Regular season statistics

In the past, the MVP has been awarded to the player who has had the best statistical season. This often leads to guards or small forwards winning the award, as they have the ball in their hands more often and rack up more points, assists and steals than big men. In recent years, however, voters have looked beyond just stats and have begun rewarding players who fill up multiple stat categories and also lead their team to a high number of wins. This has led to big men becoming more popular MVP candidates.

Playoff statistics

The regular season MVP is usually a very good player who has put up great numbers on a good team. But the playoff MVPs are often great players who have stepped their games up even further in the playoffs. Here are the criteria that I use for picking an MVP of the playoffs:

1) playoff statistics – This is the most important criteria. I’m looking at basic stats like points, rebounds, and assists, but also more advanced stats like true shooting percentage and win shares.

2) team success – A big part of being an MVP is leading your team to success. I’m looking at things like how far your team made it in the playoffs and whether or not you were able to take your team to new heights.

3) individual impact – Even if your team didn’t have a lot of success, you can still be MVP if you had a huge individual impact on the playoffs. I’m looking at things like how much you dominated your opponents and whether or not you single-handedly carried your team.

Team success

Team success is one of the most important criteria for MVP voters. Players on winning teams are more likely to receive MVP votes than players on losing teams. This makes sense because voters are trying to identify the player who is most valuable to his team and therefore more likely to be responsible for the team’s success.

In general, players who lead their teams to the best record in the regular season are more likely to win the MVP award. For example, since the 1976-77 NBA season, when Bill Russell retired, 22 of the 42 MVP winners (52%) have been on the team with the best record in their conference. In contrast, only seven MVP winners (17%) have been on teams with a worse record than their conference’s second-best team.

Players who lead their team to the best record in the league are even more likely to win the MVP award. Since 1976-77, 15 of 42 MVP winners (36%) have been on the team with the best record in the league. In contrast, only two MVP winners (5%) have been on teams with a worse record than their conference’s second-best team.

Individual success

It’s no coincidence that most of the league’s MVPs have been its best players. In order to win the award, an individual must first prove that he is one of the NBA’s best. He must put up big numbers night in and night out, leading his team to success in the process.

Of course, individual success is not the only factor that goes into winning MVP honors. A player’s team must also find a fair degree of success for him to be considered a legitimate MVP candidate. An All-Star caliber player on a lottery-bound team is not going to win MVP, regardless of how great he may be. A player must find a balance between being one of the league’s best players and being a part of one of its best teams.

The Winner

The NBA’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1955–56 season to the best performing player of the regular season. The winner receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honor of the first commissioner (then president) of the NBA, who served from 1946 until his retirement in 1963.

The media vote

The media vote is the second component in choosing the NBA MVP. There are 100 sportswriters and broadcasters who vote for the player they believe is most deserving of the award. These voters hail from all around the U.S. and Canada, and each has one vote. The ballots are due at the end of the regular season, and anyone who votes must list their top five players in order of preference.

The player vote

The player vote counts for 25% of the total MVP vote. A first-place vote is worth 10 points, a second-place vote is worth seven points, a third-place vote is worth five points, a fourth-place vote is worth three points and a fifth-place vote is worth one point.

The coach vote

The coach vote is the most important vote when it comes to picking the NBA MVP. This is because the coach vote is worth 50% of the total vote, while the other votes (media and player) are only worth 25% each.

This means that the coaches have a big say in who wins the MVP award.