1) Bill Russell (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966)
2) Tom Heinsohn (1959)
3) Sam Jones (1965)

As is often the case, the man for whom the Finals MVP trophy is named, Bill Russell, never won it himself. It only existed in the 12th and ultimate NBA Finals appearance of his career, in 1969, and it was given to Jerry West, whose Lakers team Russell and the Celtics defeated in seven games. How many Finals MVP trophies would Russell have won if it existed as far back as 1957? He didn’t always compile his team’s best statistics, especially not in scoring, but that never prevented his fellow players from voting him league MVP five times over statistical mavens like Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson. Here’s a year-by-year breakdown:

1957: Just like what happened in 1969, when Russell had his one chance at a Finals MVP trophy given away to West from the losing Lakers, he quite possibly would have lost out to the Hawks’ Bob Pettit in 1957. This series was an incredible performance by Pettit, who was the reigning league MVP, in a losing effort, with 30.1 points and 18.3 rebounds per game. Russell contributed 13.3 points and 22.9 rebounds per game for the series, including an incredible 32 rebounds in the deciding game seven. His MVP votes may also have been split with his teammate Heinsohn, who led the Celtics in scoring for the series. 

Verdict: The rookie Russell, still slightly disrespected around the league for having joined the Celtics so late in the year (and, let’s face it, because of racism), would have missed out on the MVP to Pettit, who would have made it two in a row the next year.

1959: Even in a breezy series sweep where he averaged an incredible 29.5 rebounds per game, Russell found himself overshadowed, this time by Lakers rookie sensation Elgin Baylor. Though Baylor was easily the most dynamic offensive threat on the floor, it was Heinsohn again leading all scorers in the series with 24.3 points per game. Russell had just 9.3 points per game to go along with his rebounding and defense, making him Boston’s seventh-leading scorer. 

Verdict: Though his peers had named Russell league MVP in ’57-’58 (he finished second in voting behind Pettit in ’58-’59), many media members, even in Boston, were still wary of admitting the best basketball player in the world was Black. Heinsohn likely wins this one.

1960: In the rubber match of the Celtics-Hawks Finals rivalry, Russell led Boston to victory in another seven-game classic, with 16.7 points and 24.9 rebounds per game. Heinsohn, given the nickname “Ack Ack” for his zealous shooting (comparable to the succession of bullets from an automatic weapon), was again the leading scorer, while Bob Cousy also had a superlative performance as his rival, Hawks point guard Slater Martin, missed the series with an injury. 

Verdict: After a 22-point, 35-rebound performance in game seven, Russell finally wins his first Finals MVP.

1961: After their last three series had been six or seven-game classics, the 1961 NBA Finals, the final chapter in the Celtics-Hawks rivalry, was a duller affair. The aging St. Louis roster was just coming off a Western Conference Finals battle royale with the Lakers, and received a shellacking in the first two Finals games in Boston, setting the tone for the series that eventually was decided in five games. Boston got great performances again from Heinsohn and Cousy, but Russell was simply overwhelming, with 17.6 points and 28.8 rebounds per game. 

Verdict: Fresh off accepting his second league MVP award, Russell, with 30 points and 38 rebounds in the clinching game five, also adds a second Finals MVP trophy.

1962: For the first time in his career, Russell was Boston’s leading scorer for the series in the 1962 NBA Finals against the Lakers. He finished with 22.9 points per game, along with 27.0 rebounds per game. For Los Angeles, the series is mainly remembered for Frank Selvy missing a series-winning shot late in game seven but Baylor, just like in his rookie year, was the biggest star of either team. He finished with 40.6 points and 17.9 rebounds per game, arguably the most staggering numbers that have ever been compiled in a Finals losing effort. 

Verdict: Normally Baylor would be a slam dunk selection even though the Lakers lost, but the ’61-’62 season featured Wilt Chamberlain scoring 50.4 points per game and Oscar Robertson averaging a triple-double, but Russell was still named MVP. He would repeat the feat here, for his third Finals MVP trophy.

1963: Another year, another Lakers-Celtics classic, another dominating Russell performance. The series was Cousy’s swan song, but there was little chance of sentimentality garnering him votes as he was far from the best player on the court at any point. Baylor was incredible again, with 33.8 points and 15.0 rebounds per game.

Verdict: Though his stats don’t quite compare to Baylor’s, with 20.0 points and 26.0 rebounds per game, the Celtics win the series in six with little doubt about the outcome at any point, so Russell adds a fourth Finals MVP trophy to go along with his fourth league MVP award.

1964: With the Warriors having moved in 1962 from Philadelphia to San Francisco, and subsequently from the Eastern Conference to the West, 1964 was the first NBA Finals match-up between Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. As usual, Chamberlain was a force of nature in the series, with 29.2 points and 27.6 rebounds per game, but got little help from his teammates outside of Nate Thurmond. The five-game series was a closer contest than it appeared but the Celtics essentially cruised to the title, meaning that Chamberlain’s MVP argument would be a non-starter. Russell finished the series with just 11.2 points per game, but 25.2 rebounds per game. Jones was Boston’s leading scorer with 25.2 points per game, but he was far from dominant in the clinching game five, which would leave voters with a dilemma.

Verdict: This is a close one as voter fatigue had to be settling in at this point, but we give Russell the slight edge over Jones, and his fifth Finals MVP award. 

1965: Even though Elgin Baylor was waylaid with a knee injury that would hamper the remainder of his career, the Lakers were back in the NBA Finals in 1965. But without the services of their star small forward, they were little match for the Celtics, losing in five games despite 33.8 points per game from West. Russell’s 25.0 rebounds per game easily led all players in the series, but his 17.8 points per game was only third on the Celtics. Boston was led by Jones with 27.8 points per game, including 37 points in a crucial game four win in Los Angeles that essentially iced the series.

Verdict: Though Russell was the hero of games one and two in this series, Jones is the one who carried the Celtics through the remaining three games. He wins his first Finals MVP trophy here.

1966: As tough a season as any that Boston faced during their dynasty, this was Red Auerbach’s final campaign as coach, and Chamberlain, back in the Eastern Conference with the 76ers, led his squad to the top overall seed. But as always, the Celtics endured, slipping past Philadelphia in the Conference Finals leading into another NBA Finals showdown with the Lakers. Los Angeles somehow won not one but two games in the vaunted Boston Garden, but dropped two games at home as well, and the close-knit series went to the Celtics in seven games. With Baylor still hobbled by the knee injury that cost him a chance to play in the 1965 Finals, Jerry West had officially taken over the Lakers’ offensive focal point. West finished the series with 33.9 points per game, while Russell had one of his rare moments of taking over Boston’s scoring load, leading his team with 23.6 points, plus 24.3 rebounds per game. 

Verdict: It’s tempting to award this one to West in a losing effort, just as voters eventually did in reality in 1969. He added 6.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game to go along with his scoring, and truly spurred L.A.’s game one upset in Boston. But Baylor, despite his knee injury, was also terrific in this series, leading the way with 41 points as the Lakers pulled off a stunning upset in the Garden in game five. Ultimately they would likely split some votes, and Russell, who, as usual, came up huge when it mattered most in game seven, with 25 points and 32 rebounds, would pick up Finals trophy number six here.

1968: Now 34 years old and acting as a player-coach, Russell wasn’t quite his dominant self anymore. With Heinsohn and Cousy retired, and Jones also starting to show his age, this is the season where John Havlicek took over as the primary offensive threat. In a six-game series victory over the Lakers, Havlicek led the Celtics with 27.3 points per game, while also adding 8.7 points and 6.7 assists per game. Russell finished the series with 17.3 points and 21.8 rebounds per game. He also had a blocked shot at the buzzer that clinched a crucial game five victory. West was terrific again in this series, leading all scorers with 31.3 points per game.

Verdict: With a 40 point, 10 rebound performance in the clinching game six to cap off a series where he was often the best player on the court, Havlicek earns his first Finals MVP. Russell comes up short of claiming a seventh trophy, but he does still make history in this series by becoming the first Black coach to win an NBA championship.

Final Count: Six MVP trophies for Russell, one for Jones, one for Heinsohn, and one for Havlicek, who would eventually actually win one in 1974.

4) Dolph Schayes (1955)

Everything came together perfectly for Schayes in the ’54-’55 season. Unfortunately for the star power forward, not only was there no such thing as a Finals MVP, it was also the NBA’s last year without a regular season MVP award. Though it’s arguable that Schayes would have lost out on the ’54-’55 MVP to scoring champ Neil Johnston, it’s patently obvious that he would have easily won the Finals MVP award. A year removed from a tough seven-game loss to the Lakers, Schayes’ Nationals were the heavy favorites heading into the ’54-’55 season in the wake of George Mikan’s retirement. They matched up against a well-rounded Pistons team in the NBA Finals and all seven games of the series were decided by seven points or less. Though Syracuse was also a balanced team that took advantage of the newly instituted shot clock with their speed, Schayes was their undisputed leader and star. The series was controversial, and at times just plain weird. All three of Fort Wayne’s home games had to be played in Indianapolis, due to a scheduling conflict with a bowling tournament (they managed to win all three anyway). One of those games was disrupted by a conflict between a Pistons fan and Nats point guard George King that led to the fan throwing a chair on the court during play, and the Indianapolis-based fans almost full-scale rioting after the game was over. The series was also marred in retrospect by suspicious activity from several Pistons players and referees that may have been related to former player Jack Molinas and his mob connections. In the end, Syracuse won it in seven and Schayes led all players in both scoring (19.0 points per game) and rebounding (11.9 per game). It was the third, and last, Finals appearance of his career, and his only championship, as two years later Bill Russell and the Celtics wrested away control of the Eastern Conference.

5) George Mikan (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954)

It’s well documented that Mikan dominated the early days of the NBA, even though he never won an MVP or Finals MVP. If the concept of either had existed during Mikan’s career, he would probably have won four or five of the former, and definitely five of the latter. After joining in 1948 from the National Basketball League, the Lakers won the title in five of their first six NBA seasons, and the only reason they lost in 1951 is because Mikan was dealing with a broken leg in the playoffs. The bespectacled giant scored 42 points in his NBA Finals debut, contributing just about half of Minneapolis’ scoring as they defeated the Washington Capitols, 88-84. He went on to average 32.2 points per game in the 1950 Finals against Syracuse, 21.7 points and 17.4 rebounds per game in 1952 versus the Knicks, a series-high 20.8 points per game in a 1953 rematch with New York, and a series-high 18.1 points per game in the 1954 title over the Nats. Rebounding stats are unreliable from those days, but it seems evident that Mikan was the leading scorer and rebounder in all five NBA Finals series in which he played, and it’s difficult to see how he wouldn’t win the Finals MVP trophy every time, if it existed. That would have given him the most in NBA history for any player besides Michael Jordan.

“50 points, 18 rebounds, 19-of-34 from the field, 12-of-14 from the free throw line. That was [Bob] Pettit’s stat line in game six of the 1958 NBA Finals, and the Hawks needed every bit of it to hold off a feisty Celtics team featuring a tottered Bill Russell.”

6) Arnie Risen (1951)

The reign of George Mikan and Lakers was disturbed just once, in 1951 at the hands of Risen’s Rochester Royals. That does come with a bit of an asterisk, as the Royals were able to defeat Minneapolis in the Western Conference Finals largely because Mikan was hobbled with a broken leg. But nonetheless, Rochester moved on to play a memorable NBA Finals against the Knicks, blowing a 3-0 series lead with three straight losses before hanging on to clinch the championship in game seven. Risen had been battling Mikan going back as far as 1946, when he played for the Indianapolis Kautsyks of the NBL against Mikan’s Chicago American Gears. He joined the Royals in 1948 and despite standing just 6’9″, he was one of the premier centers of the NBA’s early years. In ’50-’51 he easily led the Royals in both scoring and rebounding in the regular season and playoffs, and was the undisputed team leader in the Finals. Risen had game highs of 24 points and 15 rebounds in Rochester’s game one win over the Knicks, then 27 points and 18 rebounds in game three, 26 points and 20 rebounds in game four, and 24 points and 13 rebounds in game seven. Though teammates Jack Coleman and Arnie Johnson stole the show in games two and six, respectively, Risen was easily the most consistent player of the series for either team, and certainly would have added a Finals MVP line to his resume.

7) Bob Pettit (1957, 1958)

50 points, 18 rebounds, 19-of-34 from the field, 12-of-14 from the free throw line. That was Pettit’s stat line in game six of the 1958 NBA Finals, and the Hawks needed every bit of it to hold off a feisty Celtics team featuring a tottered Bill Russell. The two squads had met before, with the Celtics winning a seven-game classic in 1957, but things were different this go round, due in no small part to Russell spraining his ankle late in game three. Russell sat out game four (a surprise Boston win) and game five (a Hawks victory to take a 3-2 series lead) and was limited to just 20 labored minutes in game six. Matching up against a coterie of lesser talents with Russell on the bench (including an ancient Arnie Risen), Pettit not only broke the regulation record for most points in a playoff game (Bob Cousy had previously scored 50 in an overtime game), he scored 19 of St. Louis’ final 21 points in a nail-biter. This included a tip-in with 15 seconds left that gave the Hawks an essentially insurmountable three-point lead (the final score was 110-109). Pettit finished with 29.7 points per and 17.0 rebounds per game for the series, as the Hawks won their only championship in franchise history. He won Rookie of the Year, two regular season MVPs and four All-Star MVPs, but because Pettit’s prime came too early, he never got to add a Finals MVP trophy to his illustrious career. It’s arguable that Pettit actually would have come away with two of them, as noted above.

8) Paul Arizin (1956)

The ’55-’56 Warriors title was a decided team effort, with major contributions from All-Star center Neil Johnston, rookie sensation Tom Gola, and veteran stalwart Joe Graboski, amongst others. But Arizin was the undeniably best player on the roster, and he proved it especially in the NBA Finals against the Pistons. Fresh off finishing a close second in league MVP voting behind Bob Pettit, Arizin put in an MVP-worthy performance in a five-game Warriors championship victory, with a series-leading 27.6 points per game. He also added 8.0 rebounds per game, shot 28-of-32 from the free throw line, and matched up defensively against Fort Wayne’s best player, George Yardley. Six different Warriors players finished in double-figures scoring for the series, but Arizin was the difference maker with his unstoppable offensive repertoire. It was especially impressive considering that Arizin, who had previously won the league scoring title in ’51-’52, had just missed two years of action due to military service and returned to a vastly different up-tempo style of play. He would remain successful for six more years with the Warriors, including another scoring title in ’56-’57, but never returned to the NBA Finals again.

9) Joe Fulks (1947)

With 37 points, 29 of them coming in the second half, Fulks so dominated game one of the 1947 BAA Finals that the Associated Press labeled his performance as “the greatest shooting exhibition ever seen.” Granted, basketball was still a relatively young sport at that point, and this was only the first edition of what would eventually be called the NBA Finals, but Fulks lived up to that hype. Essentially the first great jump shooter, he was the scoring champion of the inaugural BAA season and would have easily won league MVP as well if it existed (it was first handed out in 1956). He actually struggled a bit in Philadelphia’s first two playoff series against the St. Louis Bombers and Knicks, but dominated the NBA Finals against the Chicago Stags. After setting the tone in game one, Fulks dropped a game-high 26 points in game three to stake the Warriors to a commanding 3-0 series lead, then 34 points in game five as they closed out the series. Having reached the pro ranks at age 25 after serving a full tour of duty as a U.S. Marine in World War II, Fulks lasted just eight seasons in the NBA, winning one more scoring title in ’47-’48 and getting named to the first two All-Star teams.