Who Votes For NBA MVP?

The process of voting for the NBA MVP has changed over the years. Here’s a look at who votes for the NBA MVP and how they make their decision.

NBA Players

The National Basketball Association’s 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 his retirement in 1963.

Current players

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Former players

Former players have the most significant say in who wins the MVP award. They are the ones who vote for the award, and their vote carries a lot of weight.

Fans

The NBA MVP Award is given to the top player in the National Basketball Association each season. It was first given out during the 1955-56 season to Bob Pettit and has been given out every year since then. The award is voted on by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Each member of the panel casts a vote for first, second, and third place choices. The player who receives the most points overall wins the award.

NBA Media

National media

The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) 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, the award is decided by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Each member of the voting panel 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, fourth-place is worth three and fifth-place 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 January 2020, 46 players have received the MVP award in its 70 seasons: 24 have won it multiple times (counting those who won in consecutive seasons), while 22 (including nine unaffiliated with an NBA team at the time) have won it once. Bill Russell holds the record for most awards, having won it 11 times during his 13-year career with 1960s Boston Celtics; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar then became only one to win it 10 times over his 20 seasons with 1970s and 1980s Los Angeles Lakers before being surpassed by Michael Jordan – who additionally holds another 3 awards received playing for 1990s Chicago Bulls – to become outright leader with 11 awards becoming clear cut when Russell’s teammate Bob Cousy was honored as well in 1957 having spent that season outside Boston winning 3 more championships there in next 4 years without being considered due Cousy playing distinctively less games than his peers making total number of Cousy’s awards 10 when adding 1957 honor to those he already had from 1950s coming up just 2 short behind Abdul-Jabbar and Jordan respectively; Wilt Chamberlain then joins this group as well after winning 7 awards in 1960s including 4 in row between 1967 and 1970 bringing number of Chamberlain’s accolades to 9 tying him with LeBron James – both short 2 behind Abdul-Jabbar & Jordan – after James earned back-to-back awards following 8 straight seasons being snubbed becoming only player besides Russell & Robertson joining them as well as Abdul-Jabbar & Jordan in this elite MVP quadruplet while Larry Bird then becomes 6th man ever joining this quintet after earning 3 straight between 1984 and 1986 coming up 1 short behind James leaving Oscar Robertson as final player with 5 or more MVPs winning last of his 4 in 1964 and first of them way back in 1961 meaning that following retirement of Abdul-Jabbar & Jordan as well as nearing end of LeBron James’ career Oscar Robertson remains only player whose played significant part of his prime in 21st century to have been awarded 5 or more times totaling 7 when adding 2 more he received before 1970 putting him alone atop historical MVP leaderboard 2 clear off second placed Russell & Chamberlain.

Since its inception, Steve Nash has been most recent player not affiliated with an NBA team at time he was honored receiving back-to-back awards while still playing for Dallas Mavericks in 2005 & 2006 becoming only player besides Robertson named MVP while not playing for team that ultimately went on to win an NBA championship that season losing out in Western Conference Finals both years; Utah Jazz’s Karl Malone then joins this group as well after being named 1999 League MVP despite never leading his team past second round of playoffs losing out consecutively to eventual champion San Antonio Spurs & champion Los Angeles Lakers respectively missing out on chance to play for title himself those two years due Malone ultimately retiring without ever winning an NBA championship despite having been widely considered one of game’s best players never winning Finals MVP either finishing his 18 year long career holding numerous league records including those for games played & minutes played while also being second all time scorer only behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; Magic Johnson becomes next such case after being named 1990 regular season co–MVP sharing accolade that year alongside teammate Clyde Drexler despite Johnson’s LA Lakers losing out Western Conference Finals to eventual champion Portland Trail Blazers ending Johnson’s bid that year for third consecutive Finals appearance let alone third consecutive championship ring which would have made Johnson first ever player achieving such triplet feats joining Tom Brady – 6× Super Bowl champion – & Michael Jordan – 6× NBA champion –as well namesakes Earvin “Magic” Johnson from 1969 Detroit Tigers who won World Series title that year despite not playing enough regular season games to technically qualify for Rookie Of The Year honors which he ultimately ended up receiving alongside pitchers Doc Ellis from Pittsburgh Pirates who no hit San Diego Padres while high on LSD that year & Jim Abbott from California Angels who became 1st ever pitcher born without right hand throwing no hitter against Cleveland Indians–as well as Magic: The Gathering card game which debuted later that same year 1990 –as holders prestigious “triple crown” status.

Local media

Every NBA city has at least one media outlet that covers the local team on a daily basis. For some cities, like Los Angeles, Boston and New York, there are multiple outlets that cover the team. These outlets have specialists who cover every aspect of the team, from the front office to the locker room to on-court performance.

For most of the season, these specialists are in communication with each other, sharing information and opinions about the team. At the end of the season, they vote for various awards, including MVP. While their opinions carry a lot of weight, they are not the only ones who votefor MVP.

NBA Coaches

Every head coach in the NBA has one vote for MVP. They are asked to select their top three choices for the award, and those choices are then given a point value. A first-place vote is worth five points, a second-place vote worth three points, and a third-place vote worth one point. The coach’s vote is just one part of the MVP selection process, but it is an important one.

Current coaches

When it comes to who votes for NBA MVP, the process is a bit different than it is for other awards. Unlike other awards, where the media does the voting, for MVP, it’s the coaches who have the final say.

Each coach votes for five players, and those players are given points based on how they rank. The player with the most points wins the award.

Current coaches in the NBA:
-Doc Rivers
-Brad Stevens
-Quin Snyder
-Terry Stotts
-Rick Carlisle
-Nate McMillan
-Michael Malone
-Frank Vogel

Former coaches

In the past, only NBA head coaches could vote for the MVP award. This group of voters has been expanded in recent years to include all head coaches and assistant coaches from each NBA team.