Which is more prestigious: Regular Season MVP or Finals MVP?

[QuestFor17]

Dumb question, IMO. Finals is more important because it means the player received a ring. That goes much further with players around the league than who won it in the regular season. Nash won it twice and Nowitzki won it once and neither are mentioned in the same breath as Shaq, Duncan, Kobe, Wade, etc...

That's my point exactly. I hold Pierce's accomplishment in higher prestige. He played his best on the ultimate stage against the best competition. Dirk bowed out in the first round.

[Bush4Ever]

Whose award is more prestigious? Dirk's regular season MVP, or Pierce's Finals MVP?

In the long run, it will be Dirk's.

All regular season MVPs are in the HOF.

Not so with Finals MVPs.

[cotdt]

In terms of legacy, the regular season MVP is more important.

Regular Season MVP = Ticket to the Hall.

All people eligibile for the HOF who won MVP are in.

Not so with the Finals MVP.

What makes making it to the HOF so important? Is that what is on the players' minds when they play?

[cotdt]

ask lebron and kobe.

I'm pretty sure that Kobe is picking up his Finals MVP a week from today. He would have both, in his case, the question is which MVP Kobe will value more.

If you compare Lebron's regular MVP this year, vs. Kobe's Finals MVP, Kobe gives his team more success than Lebron does year after year, so I would say that Kobe is more valuable as a player.

[niko]

50% of you are answering the question WHAT WOULD YOU RATHER WIN? That is not the question. Yes, ,winning finals MVP is probably better because it means you won the title but the question is WHICH IS MORE PRESTIGIOUS and there is no answer except Regular Season. 100% regular season MVP is a more prestigious award. There is not so much prestige with winning the finals MVP, its more about winning the title, and being a great player besides.

[Bush4Ever]

What makes making it to the HOF so important? Is that what is on the players' minds when they play?

The HOF is an indicator of someone's legacy, and for NBA players is pretty much an automatic validation of your greatness (some exceptions, but not many).

[Showtime]

IMO, Finals MVP because it's against better competition and in series play instead of a handful of regular season games where the situation is totally different.

[Roundball_Rock]

Nash won it twice and Nowitzki won it once and neither are mentioned in the same breath as Shaq, Duncan, Kobe, Wade, etc...

Tony Parker, Joe Dumars, Cedric Maxwell, and James Worthy all have finals MVP's neither of these guys were ever top 10 players in the league. Nowitzki was on the all-NBA first team again this year and is probably still a top 5 player while Nash was top 5 in his prime. In order to win regular season MVP, or even come close to it, you have to be an elite player; this is not the case for finals MVP where you need a combination of luck, timing, and sometimes the voters getting tired of voting for the same guy for everything (i.e. Magic).

[UnbiasedGuy]

Sorry for bumping this 4 year thread, but was googling finals MVP and this came up.

To me, Finals MVP, along with Superbowl MVP, are the most prestigious individual awards in professional sports (excluding Olympics). I played high school sports, and winning volleyball MVP for a small tournament one year was a big deal. I couldnt even imagine what making, and then winning MVP of our provincials would of been like.

In all but some cases, (2008 celtics, 2007 spurs, 2004 pistons, etc), the Finals MVP was by and large the most dominant player in the series, carrying his team to the NBA Championship, ala 2011 Dirk, 00-03 shaq, 91-98 Jordan, Hakeem, etc. To me, this is the single greatest feat you can achieve as a basketball player. The FMVP recipient performed when the stage was the biggest, and resultantly brought the chip to his team. To me, this means that you were the greatest player on Earth that year.

[Mr Exlax]

Finals MVP is more prestigious, but Regular Season MVP is harder to get. Finals MVP can be won by a role player that just gets super hot for 1 series. I think it's happened a couple of times before.

[Kurosawa0]

I'd actually go with regular season MVP. I mean, does anyone really rank Tony Parker over someone like KG because he has a Finals MVP?

It's easier for a second or third guy to end up with a Finals MVP. MVP is going to always go to at least one of the very top players in the league that year.

For example, Wade could end up winning the Finals MVP, but has zero shot at the MVP.

[InfiniteBaskets]

I'd actually go with regular season MVP. I mean, does anyone really rank Tony Parker over someone like KG because he has a Finals MVP?

It's easier for a second or third guy to end up with a Finals MVP. MVP is going to always go to at least one of the very top players in the league that year.

For example, Wade could end up winning the Finals MVP, but has zero shot at the MVP.

Agreed. It's easier for a 2nd or 3rd option guy on a contender to win Finals MVP than regular season MVP.

[kshutts1]

Regular season MVP means nothing to me... Finals MVP doesn't mean too much, either.

[chazzy]

I mean, does anyone really rank Tony Parker over someone like KG because he has a Finals MVP?

Does anyone really rank Nash over Wade because he has 2 MVPs to his 0? It's all contextual

[Hoopz2332]

Agreed. It's easier for a 2nd or 3rd option guy on a contender to win Finals MVP than regular season MVP.

agreed