Fire Colangelo
08-01-2016, 03:24 PM
There's been many players who dominated in the regular season and won MVP, but wasn't dominant enough in the post season to win a FMVP - and vice versa. Only a handful of greats have won both awards in the same season.
Michael Jordan - 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998
Probably would've had 1993 and 1997 in the bag as well had it not been voter's fatigue.
Bill Russell - Played in an era without the FMVP award, but had FMVP existed back in his day he would've swept both awards in 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1965.
LeBron James - 2012, 2013
Truly dominant in those two seasons, one of the only three* (Finals MVP technically didn't exist in Russell's day) players to win both awards in a single season multiple times.
Larry Bird - 1984, 1986
Shame what injuries did to Bird, but he had a great career regardless.
Kareem Abdul Jabbar - 1971
6 MVPs and 2 FMVPs on his resume - KAJ was truly dominant in his early years and cemented himself on this list of All Time Elites with his 1971 season.
Magic Johnson - 1987
Definitely would've had more of these seasons had Magic not played in one of the most competitive eras along with Bird.
Tim Duncan - 2003
One of the most dominant seasons by an individual player in NBA history. Timmy absolutely carried his team that year
Shaq - 2000
Arguably could've had 2001 as well had Iverson not carried his Sixers to a better record. Shaq is one of the, if not THE most dominant player in his prime.
Hakeem - 1994
Carried his team like a few others, sadly Hakeem will always be haunted by the question: "What if Jordan didn't retire?".
Wilt Chamberlain - Also played in an era without the FMVP award, although he was able to pick one up later on in his career. Had the FMVP award existed in his prime years, he would've arguably had it in 1967..... Arguably.
Moses Malone - 1983
Moses jumped ship to a team that won 58 games and made the NBA finals just a previous season before in 1983. But make no mistake, he was very dominant in the 1983 season and ultimately pushed them over the top for a championship.
Honourable Mention:
Willis Reed - 1970
One of the weaker MVPs we had in league history - a MVP that belonged to KAJ in the regular season. But Reed was the best player on the best team in the NBA in 1970, so he sneaks into this list. Both his regular season and post season stats are very pedestrian compared to the players listed above however, which is why he only has 1 MVP and 1 FMVP in his whole career.
To put everything together:
Tier 1: Jordan, Russell - Both had 4 dominant years
Tier 2: LeBron, Bird - Both had 2 dominant years
Tier 3: KAJ, Magic, Duncan, Shaq, Hakeem, Wilt, Moses - All had 1 dominant year + multiple MVPs/FMVPs in separate occasions.
^ This rounds off our top 11 pretty nicely IMO.
Michael Jordan - 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998
Probably would've had 1993 and 1997 in the bag as well had it not been voter's fatigue.
Bill Russell - Played in an era without the FMVP award, but had FMVP existed back in his day he would've swept both awards in 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1965.
LeBron James - 2012, 2013
Truly dominant in those two seasons, one of the only three* (Finals MVP technically didn't exist in Russell's day) players to win both awards in a single season multiple times.
Larry Bird - 1984, 1986
Shame what injuries did to Bird, but he had a great career regardless.
Kareem Abdul Jabbar - 1971
6 MVPs and 2 FMVPs on his resume - KAJ was truly dominant in his early years and cemented himself on this list of All Time Elites with his 1971 season.
Magic Johnson - 1987
Definitely would've had more of these seasons had Magic not played in one of the most competitive eras along with Bird.
Tim Duncan - 2003
One of the most dominant seasons by an individual player in NBA history. Timmy absolutely carried his team that year
Shaq - 2000
Arguably could've had 2001 as well had Iverson not carried his Sixers to a better record. Shaq is one of the, if not THE most dominant player in his prime.
Hakeem - 1994
Carried his team like a few others, sadly Hakeem will always be haunted by the question: "What if Jordan didn't retire?".
Wilt Chamberlain - Also played in an era without the FMVP award, although he was able to pick one up later on in his career. Had the FMVP award existed in his prime years, he would've arguably had it in 1967..... Arguably.
Moses Malone - 1983
Moses jumped ship to a team that won 58 games and made the NBA finals just a previous season before in 1983. But make no mistake, he was very dominant in the 1983 season and ultimately pushed them over the top for a championship.
Honourable Mention:
Willis Reed - 1970
One of the weaker MVPs we had in league history - a MVP that belonged to KAJ in the regular season. But Reed was the best player on the best team in the NBA in 1970, so he sneaks into this list. Both his regular season and post season stats are very pedestrian compared to the players listed above however, which is why he only has 1 MVP and 1 FMVP in his whole career.
To put everything together:
Tier 1: Jordan, Russell - Both had 4 dominant years
Tier 2: LeBron, Bird - Both had 2 dominant years
Tier 3: KAJ, Magic, Duncan, Shaq, Hakeem, Wilt, Moses - All had 1 dominant year + multiple MVPs/FMVPs in separate occasions.
^ This rounds off our top 11 pretty nicely IMO.