15 Most Controversial NBA MVP Winners All-Time: Did They Honestly Deserve It? 

J.A. Gamer 😂 I love this man

I think he almost laughed

I was reading your comment as he went berserk over that.

1997 MJ 29.6 ppg 50% Fg, 37% from 3, 83% at the line, 1.7 spg, 6 rebound per game, 4.3 apg. Bulls 69 wins best record in the NBA. Karl Malone 27.4 ppg, 55% fg, 0% from 3, 75% at the line, 1.4 spg, 10 rebound per game, 4.5 apg. Jazz 64 wins. You can see Michael had the better overall number plus team record. Malone has a higher FG do to him scoring majority in the low post. You can see why Wilson is mad and why till this day. People still say MJ was robbed of MVP that year. He did show Malone he deserve it when they beat the Jazz in the NBA finals.

That was only for 3 years. He had Shaq, Gasol, Odom, Bynum for the majority of his prime.

dd Magic over Mike Jordan too

For me 2nd was the 97 season between MJ and KM and the 1st RUS and CHAM....

Thanks you too Parker. Great chatting with you

Thanks Ken, appreciate the kinds words. I'll always have a deep appreciation for old school NBA as well. I can talk 50s, 60s and 70s for hours

When in doubt, your.

He knows how important it is to understand what happened in the past. I've noticed this younger generation has an appreciation for that. I'm a 1990's teenager. Most of my generation could care less. It's nice to see is all.

@@jpmnky Yeah, I have 19 years and a lot of people, of my age but also younger or older, really don't know anything of the past, it's a shame. At least knowing, at least partially, what happen in the past it's a nice and beatiful thing

Thank you, stay safe and appreciate your support

nash

I mean you can’t say he didn’t deserve his mvps. He definitely turned that suns team around and was the catalyst for their dominance. It’s just he won those mvps when guys like Kobe and bron were having historic seasons

The second mvp should have definitely went to Kobe, all love to Nash tho

@@christianchandler2419 but I do think Kobe’s 2009 mvp should have gone to Paul

Thank you. Appreciate your support. Kidd was amazing in 2002, way more impactful than his numbers

macewbee I would've Kanye West Tim Duncan's award ceremony on some "Jason Kidd had a way better season then you Tim"

James had a better stats but bulls were at the top seed so....

@@muncheryt2543 Rose’s two best teammates also missed significant time and Rose was still able lead his team to the best record in the league

Not the one in 2006. Kobe should have won that

maybe Dirk not Kobe

Dirk over Nash for that 2006 MVP

Shawn Austin Escudero not 06. The pistons, mavs and spurs had better records than the suns. And Lebron and Kobe had better statlines. Nash deserved 05. Not 06

I also think Derrick deserved that award. He balled hard that year.

Um...no.

Hell no

@@VincentVincent_89 Hell yea

@@alvinjackson1368 Hell yes

@@VincentVincent_89 his team won 60 games he averaged 25 and 7 and from people who watched him say he deserved it he did this at 22 he deserved this

Jordan was also defensive player of the year

Kobe was litteraly backpacking bums to revelancy in the western conference

It's a unfair knock on Kareem. The only reason why the Bucks didn't make the playoffs is because of division positioning was valued more than wins. There were teams who had less wins than the Bucks that made the playoffs. Can you imagine your team didn't make the playoffs because of geography? We don't see that in today's game; we fixed those flaws.

@@mike.cdn7212 Lakers not Bucks

RB23 ok but you know he’s biased. He says it is. He’s still a great writer and loves basketball he’s a lot better then some of these other guys

He talks shit about the Celtics too what are you talking about

@@arizonaFIREent did u read what he said

yeah that one hurt to watch. Mj should have had regular season mvps with his 6 finals mvp. And imagine if Mj would have played in 94 and 95 he could have won 1 or two more and if he had come back in 99 maybe he could have gotten a last one but he could and should easily have had 6 and more had he not retired 2 times after winning a championship

Ya that’s a textbook example of voter fatigue for a MVP lol

I 100% agree.

MVP is a regular season award and that season where he got hurt was in 2012. He won MVP in 2011

Thank you Alekos. I'll keep that in mind

I dont understand

I’m extremely biased but I think Dwight Howard should of gotten MVP that year.

@@austinreed347 no one talks about how good he was in 2011. u can make the case he should`ve won it

Very close race, I agree, it was actually one of the Malone's worst season in the 90s, I would have given it to Duncan. I wonder if MJ didn't retire, he might have won it again

Dranreb Quinantoto Heart wise. Barley numbers were crazy all his career

I made a recent vid on my award predictions last week

It’s giannis. If it’s not giannis it’s a robbery plain and simple.

Bron is in the west. Giannis can't win in the west

Era Bean This is funny. Where was this argument for you bronsexuals when Lebron was in the east. Correction Lebron can’t win in the west without AD

Can you count how many championships does Giannis have? Bron had 3 and in his 17TH SEASON is still regarded by many as the best player on the planet. C'mon, Bron is still best player in the planet.

Dude suspension and injuries brought down the warriors. They should have won

Mj was robbed BIG time in 97

Stupid Russ Stan. Nba plays no defence today. A lot different than what oscar had to deal with. Westbrook couldn’t hold the Big Os jockstrap

Talent is concentrated more in a league with less teams

Also, was Wilt bad???

comp wasn`t low. That`s a myth. Oscar was going against guys like WIlt and Russell, Rick barry and jerry west each time 4 or 5 times in the regular season. that`s like Bron facing the warriors and also the great teams in the west and the east like the nets with kd and kyrie, bucks and sixers and heat, celtics

@@trollkenobi6727 no he averaged 50 in 1962

Na, Hakeem only won 47 games and Spurs were the 1 seed, even though Dream destroyed him in the playoffs

Legends Never Die I even got tired of Jordan winning that award. Titles are cool, but MVP gotta be switched up from time to time. It can't be so predictable

rodman also played 55 games, kurkoc played 57 and other injuries

Nash was amazing, no controversy at all! I think he gets some hate because he was a little white dude and people just couldn't figure how he was that good. The Eminem of the NBA in those years. I remember those years watching Phonex and he was amazing, had like a radar with those passes and a deadly shot, but so unselfish. He is the one who changed the game before Steph got there.

Nash was my favorite player in the 2000s. I will always always say he deserved the first one and the second one is always a good debate.

14 pts and 11 assists with 0 defense does not = MVP

@@KillaMusiktv1BlACKEYEDCORN 0 Defense is not true. 14 Points only because he involves everybody and because of him Phoenix wins many games in 3 quarters. In close Games he scores a lot more. He was a lot smarter than everybody else. You can give the mvp to the player with the best Stats but in my opinion you need to see the hole picture. Happy that many experts doin it the same

King Klose You wanna give all the credit to Suns winning to Nash when he got multiple all stars and great roster. Joe Johnson, Boris Diaw and Barbosa coming of the bench. Marion was the best defender,rebounder and second best scorer on that team. Both Amare and Marion had better stats more win shares then Nash but they wanna credit Nash even when the Suns didn’t have the best record in the West.

I agree with 2006, disagree with you in 2008. All 5 starters from the Hornets played at least 76 games, they were mainly healthy. Kwame Brown and Turiaf started over 20 games and Kobe only had Gasol for 1/3 of the season and was winning a lot even before he arrived

@Intellectual One Kobe was the best player in 07, but Dirk won 67 games, can't take that away from him

@@WilsonSy Even though he got bounced in R1 by the 8th seed GSW, Dirk deserved MVP. It's more of a regular season award.

Naw Nash deserved it

Intellectual One yeah nope

His stats were close too Kareem, not to mention he was arguably not even the best player on his team

@@singingchef23 walton was the best player on his team

he deserved it in 2002 or 2003 but the MVP should`ve gone to Nash and dirk in 2007

You cannot say Nash didn't have a case, also Lebron's season wasn't that much different than Kobe's. Dirk played well but the man had a squad.

@@mike.cdn7212 what squad with jason Terry and Josh howard outside of the other guys who were role players or guys past their prime. they were decent but Dirk took that roster to 67 wins

Kobe was pretty efficient that year wtf lol

Ya I don’t understand why people argue against him winning

98 should have been more debatable and better option since both teams won the same exact number of games

Wilson Sy Yeah. Malone winning MVP in ‘97 would be like Durant winning it over Lebron in 2012-2013 when Lebron was having his best or second best (2009) regular season. Also I think I think should’ve won the MVP 3 straight times - ‘05, ‘06, and ‘07 where he won it. Dirk didn’t have another superstar (or two, Shawn Marion was a top 10-15 player from 2000 - 2007) like Nash. Shaq in 2005 was still great but he also had D-Wade, even if he hadn’t hit his prime yet, and he simply had more help than Dirk in 2005. Dirk lost Steve Nash yet the Mavericks won 58 games, and the following season, in 2006, they won 60 games. Kobe had an all time great scoring season but when you win 15 less games than another MVP level player (Lakers won 45 while Mavericks won 60) and his team isn’t even stacked, it goes to the guy who won 15 more.

Elijah Ruderman Why do you think Karl deserved it in 98?

Cool Man7 Because, in 1998, Karl Malone had more win shares, better WS/48 min, more VORP, a higher PER, a higher box plus minus then MJ had in 1998. Also, in that 97 - 98 regular season, the Jazz were 17.4 points per 100 possessions better with Karl Malone on the floor, while the Bulls were only 6.7 points per 100 possessions better with MJ on the floor during the 97 - 98 season. Pippen being injured is literally the only argument for MJ that year. But I think it’s pretty clear than Karl Malone deserved it in 1998, and MJ deserved it in 1997. MJ’s 1998 MVP was basically a message to MJ that they should’ve given it to him the year before (Which they should’ve), but Malone definitely deserved it in 1998. That’s why.

Elijah Ruderman You do realize Advanced statistics weren’t wildly available yet and weren’t even released for the general public. It was 1998, not 2020, Where you can now go on basketball reference and find advanced statistics. Pippen being injured for half the season wasn’t the only thing for Jordan’s MVP case that year. Here are some reasons why jordan won the mvp. - With Scottie out with an injury, MJ carried the bulls to a 26-12 record and never lost more than 2 games in a row. While without John Stockton, karl managed to just get a record of 11-7, showing that Stockton was vital to Karl and the teams success. -Scottie wasn’t the only player on the bulls to get injured that season, Luc Longley(who was the bulls starting center and 4th leading scorer)also missed 24 games that season. Steve kerr(who was the bulls best shooter, best bench player, and also shot 44% from three) also missed 32 games due to an injury. Toni Kukoc also missed 8 games that season. (The bulls third leading scorer) That is an average of 32.5 games missed for the teams top 7 players. Even with all the injuries, Jordan still managed to get them to the best record in the nba. -Dennis Rodman was 37 years old already, and basically useless on the offensive end. He only put up 4.7 points per game. (Tied for the lowest of his career up to that point.) Im not downplaying his rebounding tho because he was still Great on the boards. -Jordans stats were on par with Karl’s for the season. PPG:MJ RPG:Karl(expected since karl played PF) APG:Karl SPG:MJ BPG:Karl TO:MJ (MJ had a higher usage percentage an still averaged .7 less turnovers a game) FG%:Karl(again expected since Karl played PF and played inside a lot more) 3pt%: Karl(only attempted 6 3s the whole season, last season shot 0 for 13) FT%:MJ MJ led in 4, while karl led in 5. -Jordan was the better offensive player, defensive player, was a dpoy candidate, carried a bulls team that was riddled with injuries the whole year to a 62-20 with his leadership and skill, was more valuable to his team than karl, and still put up great stats of 29, 6 and 4. The reason why Jordan won it in 98 is the same reason why Charles Barkley, derrick rose, lebron in 2012, and more won it.They led their team to a great record while carrying their team during long stretches,(due to injuries) while still having great stats. For more context here are videos/article that show how Jordan won the award: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/nba/longterm/jordan/articles/fifthmvp98.htm m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lhdlBmS5vT0.html www.nytimes.com/1998/05/19/sports/the-nba-playoffs-jordan-is-winner-of-mvp-a-5th-time.html

Casey Flentye Nah man. A Point Guard is the leader. I would've gave it to Kidd over Duncan and Paul over Kobe. Its crazy how QBs get more respect in the NFL then PGs do in the NBA

Casey Flentye kobe was lucky too get 1 mvp he was overrated

Donnie Pate I disagree but you are welcome to your opinion, :) cheers 🍻

I started to write a very compelling and plainly undeniable view; conveying Kobe Bryant: won 5 Titles with two teams. Being an all world talent far and above what I’m sure you perceive to be elite. However, explaining greatness to those who doubt and have obvious bias...Not worth my time, not anyone time. Next you might say that Gary Payton was overrated? How Steph is not that great of a shooter? How Montana and Vick were never the leaders on their team? Nah? Have a nice weekend tho. :)

@@GatCat The advanced stats show that Kobe never was the best player. Championships dont count if you win them like Kobe (2002 Game 6 vs. Kings). You can count at best 6 rings.

Did he really say Shaq lead the Heat 🤦🏾‍♂️

Giorgio Bucella not in 05

youBoob how where they mediocre when they went to the conference finals with ease and ran into a super team which is the only reason they lost? you sound dumb

@@ElijahHead0526 you obviously dont know basketball. Thibodeau ran that Bulls team into the ground and he almost ran Minnesota into the ground Rose had no reason to still be in the game before his devastating injury. you obviously have no clue how relentless each Bulls practice was but i was there hearing it on the news every day "playoff basketball" is when you play your starters heavy minutes and Thibodeau was notorious for doing that DURING THE REGULAR SEASON, of course thier bodies will break down faster. Bulls get a better regular season record but when playoffs come and EVERY TEAM starts playing "playoff basketball" Bulls end up being mediocre the Rose led Bulls were good enough to win a championship, they did not for all the reasons i posted

youBoob I was there too funny man a dedicated bulls fan and I happened to be a freshman in highschool at the time and while that may be true rose was destined to get injured eventually because of the way he landed notably after dunks and finishes, thibs ran the wolves into the ground? NO.... jimmy butler’s departure did that, they’re actually more pathetic this year without thibodeau than they were last year so it’s obviously you who doesn’t know basketball... injuries are apart of the game... whether high minutes or not we see freak injuries all the time

@@ElijahHead0526 theres something you missed so i will give you a multiple choice question; A player is more likely to get injured if: A) he plays heavy minutes B) he plays average minutes C) he plays few minutes get it?

you can argue about 10 mvps no joking.. 1987 he averaged 37 ppg 1989 32 ppg 8 rpg 8 apg 1990 33,5 ppg watch the playoff series against the sixers to see who the real mvp was 1993 mj proved in the finals who was the best player same with 1997..i dont say he deserved it 100% in all of these seasons but you can make an arguement in all of them

@@bloody_outlaw8000 I've been MJ fan still a MJ fan and Chicago bulls fan only team I pull for .

@@bloody_outlaw8000 MJ never came on TV saying he's the greatest , he let his game prove that for him greatest natural born Athlete I've ever seen .

@@glenroysmith2428 unlike the other guy who self proclaimed he's the greatest despite having swept twice in the finals and jumping from other teams recruiting other superstars to join him lol

blacknetsmed You do realize advanced statistics weren’t even created back then right? This is 1998 we’re talking about here. You probably got these stats from basketball reference which was made in 2004. You have to look at it from the perspective of the voters in 1998. Anyways, Karl wasn’t the better offensive player that season, he was just more efficient from the field. MJ mainly won the award because he carried his whole team the whole year due to injuries and still put up great stats of 29,6, and 4 while being a DPOY candidate.

@@coolman7626 realistically MJ should’ve won in 1997 and Malone should’ve won in 1998

@@X02Overdose Whats the argument for Malone in 98? That he averaged more rebounds and had a higher field goal percentage as a PF? Or that he averaged .4 assists more than a guard?

Was looking for this too

Agreed Maybe even 2015

iran lassninja Not in 2015

Kel Tsang rose won mvp in his 3rd year

LeBron won 66 games with that Cavs team, as great as D-Wade was that's 20+ more wins than Miami. Bron 100% deserved it

But at least D Wade had his case tho 😂

@@erabean4392 Not strong enough against LeBron's case

They never speak about this it’s sickening d wade was robbed

Wilson Sy the case was his second best player was old ass jermaine O’Neal let that sink in

say that five times fast

It was clearly giannis it wasn’t even close tbh

I agree. Both should have had 2

Shaq maybe, but Kobe no

He shoot under 40% FG Tim deserved that one

Nash got 2. Kidd was a better PG with none. I know Jason was called Ason Kidd because he couldn't shoot. He still deserved that award that year. Tim never put up Wilt Bi11 or Shaw type numbers. I wouldnt have giving none. J Kidd got a ring in 2011. I just wish he had one MVP

@@jknumber5138 I never edit my comment (my bad)

Duncan led his team to a better record in a much better conference he deserved It

If anything Dirk deserved it

He was 4th in the voting at best he would have go to Dirk or LBJ

Mr.E He had a lot of All star game MVP awards

It woulda been a travesty

If you look back at each season of Kobe’s career there’s very few seasons outside 2008 where he could’ve realistically won a MVP. Shaq was his teammate for the first 8 seasons of his career, the roster was absolute dog water the 3 seasons that followed Shaqs departure. Then after 2008 Lebron and D Rose had great seasons of their own with worse supporting casts and by 2012 he was old lol

MVP James clearly didn’t watch him. He was an eye test player

Nah Westbrook was

@@bigfundamental1096 SHUT YOUR BITCHASS UP

Nash

@@makis7383 I said the truth bruh