1) ’14-’15: Stephen Curry over James Harden
2) ’16-’17: Russell Westbrook over James Harden
3) ’18-’19: Giannis Antetokounmpo over James Harden

In addition to earning it in the ’17-’18 season, Harden has a solid case for three other MVP trophies. You can just ask the man himself, who personally bemoaned his second place finishes in ’14-’15, ’16-’17, and ’18-’19. In ’14-’15, when he finished second in the NBA in scoring and carried the undermanned Rockets to the #2 seed in the West, Harden was a distant second in voting to breakout superstar Stephen Curry. Harden decried the decision, citing his superior stats and noting that he was also much more “valuable” to his team. The pure stats case wasn’t as strong for Harden in ’16-’17, when he finished behind former Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook, who became just the second player to ever average a triple-double for a season. Instead, Harden pointed to the standings, where his Rockets finished with 55 wins compared to just 47 for Westbrook’s Thunder. Sure enough, Harden led Houston to a breezy first round series win over Oklahoma City that spring. In ’18-’19, even though he had won the MVP just one year prior, Harden was again upset at a second place finish, this time behind Giannis Antetokounmpo. In this case, he seemed upset about the “narrative” of Giannis’ rise as a new fan favorite overshadowing his own incredible statistical performance. There’s no doubt Harden’s ’18-’19 campaign was a historic one offensively, with a 36.1 points per game average that was the highest since Michael Jordan in ’86-’87, but Antetokounmpo won over voters by leading the Bucks to the top seed in the East, while the Rockets struggled at times and finished fourth in the West.

4) ’74-’75: Bob McAdoo over Rick Barry

With an ABA merger looming, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Willis Reed, and Oscar Robertson in newfound retirement, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar struggling with injuries and disgruntlement in Milwaukee, the ’74-’75 season was a nadir of talent for the NBA. In retrospect, the unquestionable best player in the league that year was Barry, who finished second in the NBA in scoring with 30.6 points per game, was the leader in steals and free throw percentage, added 6.2 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game, and almost single-handedly carried the Warriors to a title. But he was also deeply unpopular with fellow players who shied away from his selfishness and perceived racism, and the media and league officials for his nose-thumbing decision to ditch the NBA for the ABA years earlier. Despite one of the greatest performances of all time by a forward, Barry somehow finished fourth in MVP voting, behind not only McAdoo, but also Elvin Hayes and Dave Cowens, who missed 17 games with an injury. McAdoo won his second consecutive scoring title in ’74-’75, which was just his third season in the NBA, and led the Braves to 49 wins, which would stand as the franchise record until the Clippers broke it in ’12-’13. That was enough for voters to hand it to McAdoo but Barry got the more prestigious honor that year, as Finals MVP.

5) ’56-’57: Bob Cousy over Bob Pettit

The original MVP controversy. Cousy was certainly a great player and was still in his prime in ’56-’57. His 7.5 assists per game that season led the league (his fifth consecutive season doing so), and he added a solid 20.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, while leading the Celtics to their first title in franchise history. But those stats were actually quite a drop-off for Cousy, who had averaged 8.9 assists per game just one year prior, 21+ points per game in two previous seasons, and the rebounding numbers were actually a career low. He nonetheless just edged out the reigning MVP, Pettit, with 23 votes to 21, despite Pettit having better overall stats and being the obvious focal point of a Hawks team that reached the NBA Finals. For the record, Cousy’s teammate Bill Russell finished in seventh in voting but played in only 48 games in the season, having missed a big chunk of games in order to participate in the Olympics. Russell was rightfully the first Black MVP in ’57-’58 and went on to win five total MVP trophies, while Pettit added a second in ’58-’59.

6) ’01-’02: Tim Duncan over Jason Kidd

This was one of the closest MVP races in modern history and with good reason, as both Duncan and Kidd put together incredible seasons. This seemed like a culmination for Duncan, who had finished in the top five in voting in his first five seasons before finally winning the trophy, and a coronation of a player who had always been a media darling as the league’s best. Things were much different in ’01-’02 for Kidd, who had garnered a reputation as a malcontent who had forced his way out of Dallas and Phoenix, and in the preceding offseason had struck a plea deal for a charge of domestic abuse. Kidd’s stats that year couldn’t touch Duncan’s output, but his undeniable argument was his value to his team. The Nets finished with just 26 wins in ’00-’01, then doubled that total in ’01-’02 with Kidd in tow, and reached the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. As for Duncan, this certainly wasn’t his strongest supporting cast, but it was still a disappointing end for the Spurs in 2002, bowing out meekly in the second round of the playoffs against the Lakers. Duncan repeated as MVP in ’02-’03 while Kidd never finished higher than eighth in voting for the rest of his career.

7) ’68-’69: Wes Unseld over various

Only two players in NBA history have ever won Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. Wilt Chamberlain was the first and there was no controversy there, as “The Stilt” took the NBA by storm in ’59-’60. The second was a little more questionable, as Unseld’s MVP was a result of a great performance, yes, but also some luck and some curious voting. Chamberlain himself likely entered the ’68-’69 season as the odds on favorite to win his fourth consecutive MVP but the now Laker put up a career low scoring mark as he struggled some to adjust to a new offense with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, leaving the MVP race was as wide open as ever. Unseld secured it with 13.8 points and 18.2 rebounds per game, plus some of the sweetest passing ever seen from a big man but he was arguably not even the most valuable player on his own team, nor the most valuable rookie. On the Bullets, Unseld was often outshined by Earl Monroe, who finished second in the NBA in scoring with 25.8 points per game. Meanwhile a fellow rookie, San Diego’s Elvin Hayes, was the league’s scoring leader but didn’t receive any MVP votes. When Unseld’s Bullets were knocked out of the playoffs that spring, it was at the hands of the Knicks, whose star center Willis Reed had better stats than Unseld, and, in a rarity for him, played in all 82 games but finished second in MVP voting. Finally, there was also Billy Cunningham of the 76ers, who had picked up the scoring load after Chamberlain’s departure but settled for third in voting.

8) ’96-’97: Karl Malone over Michael Jordan
9) ’98-’99: Karl Malone over Tim Duncan and Alonzo Mourning

While the Mailman has had two MVPs delivered to his home, neither came without shipping complications. The first was in ’96-’97 and caused immediate backlash right as it was announced. Perhaps voters saw this as a lifetime achievement award for Malone, who had finished in the top five in voting in six previous seasons but never won and perhaps there was some Michael Jordan fatigue, as His Airness already had four trophies at that point, including the previous season. Malone technically did have the better stats that season, leading Jordan in rebounds, assists, blocks, and field goal percentage and finishing just behind him in points and steals. But there’s no doubt Jordan was still the world’s greatest player in ’96-’97, as he emphatically proved in that year’s NBA Finals, leading the Bulls to the title over Malone’s Jazz. Two years later, Jordan was retired, seemingly for good this time, and Malone again won one of the closest MVP voting races ever. His two leading challengers this time were Mourning, who had to settle for Defensive Player of the Year, and Duncan, who would soon lead the Spurs to a championship in just his second year in the league. In the end, the elder statesman Malone got his second trophy, a fittingly unsatisfying end to arguably the worst regular season in NBA history, shortened and stunted by the lockout.

10) ’77-’78: Bill Walton over George Gervin and David Thompson

No player has ever won MVP with a slighter body of work than Walton, who missed the last 24 games of the ’77-’78 season with a broken foot. His performance in those first 58 games were incredible, averaging 18.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game while leading the Blazers to a dominant position atop the standings. That he came away with MVP was also a testament to how weak the talent pool was in the NBA in the late ’70s. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had comparable numbers to Walton that season but also missed a big chunk of games after breaking his hand punching Kent Benson. Between that violent incident and general voter fatigue, the two-time reigning MVP finished fourth in his quest to capture three straight trophies. The second and third place finishers in ’77-’78 were two former ABA stars who spent the season in a dramatic battle for the scoring title. Gervin ultimately clinched it with a 63 point performance in his final game and finished a close second in MVP voting despite otherwise pedestrian stats and a reputation as a defensive sieve. Thompson finished a distant third in voting despite putting up similar numbers to Gervin and ending his season with an incredible 73 point output in an attempt to steal away the scoring title. After claiming his trophy, Walton came back for Portland in the postseason but lasted only two games before another devastating foot injury ended his season.

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By the numbers: Closest NBA league MVP voting results, as represented by vote share

Season	Voting share differential
1976: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar over Bob McAdoo	.017
1990: Magic Johnson over Charles Barkley	.024
1997: Karl Malone over Michael Jordan	.025
2005: Steve Nash over Shaquille O’Neal	.026
1999: Karl Malone over Alonzo Mourning	.036
2002: Tim Duncan over Jason Kidd	.045
1981: Julius Erving over Larry Bird	.045
1970: Willis Reed over Jerry West	.053

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11) ’89-’90: Magic Johnson over Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan

He’s universally perceived now as the greatest player in NBA history, but even into the early ’90s, Jordan was struggling to gain respect compared his forebears, Johnson and Larry Bird. Though Jordan won the MVP trophy in ’87-’88, he also finished second behind Johnson in ’86-’87 and ’88-’89 despite posting more impressive stats, playing superior defense, and being a larger focal point of his team. ’89-’90 seemed like an obvious breakthrough for Jordan as the consensus greatest player in the world but when the dust settled on MVP voting, he somehow had finished third. Johnson took home his third and most controversial MVP trophy and to be fair he did step up his game that year offensively in the wake of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s retirement. A close second in voting was Barkley, who almost single-handedly carried the 76ers to the #3 seed in the East. Though ’89-’90 was a disappointment for Jordan and Barkley, they would go on to win the next three MVPs.

12) ’61-’62: Bill Russell over Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson
13) ’62-’63: Bill Russell over Oscar Robertson and Elgin Baylor

It took a couple years for the media to recognize Russell as the game’s best player but once that perception took hold, it carried him through to five MVP trophies, two of which were sketchy. In ’61-’62, Russell put up incredible numbers in a vacuum, with 18.9 points, 23.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game, while remaining the most dominant defensive player in the league. But consider the fact that he won MVP over Chamberlain, who averaged an NBA record 50.4 points per game and won the rebounding title, and Robertson, who became the first player in history to average a triple-double for the season, and did so with a 30.8 points per game average. ’62-’63 saw a slightly less compelling case for Russell’s two biggest challengers but it’s probably the best example of where Baylor deserved an MVP award. The Lakers star finished in the top five in voting seven times but never won. His best chance was ’62-’63, when he was second in the NBA in scoring, fifth in rebounds, and played a full 80 game schedule for the only time in his career. But he missed out in a close voting behind Russell, as did Robertson, who would finally win it in ’63-’64 after once again averaging a triple-double.

14) ’10-’11: Derrick Rose over LeBron James and Dwight Howard

Fair or not, there was a definite perception in ’10-’11 that James’ claim as the league’s most valuable player took a hit by virtue of teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The numbers bear it out somewhat, with a slight dip in James’ scoring, assists, win shares, and PER from ’09-’10 to ’10-’11. It also didn’t help that the Heat entered the season as heavy title favorites but struggled at times during the season, ultimately settling for the East’s #2 seed. The top seed that year were the Bulls, who were led by one-man wrecking crew Rose. With a fearless and entertaining style that turned around a moribund Chicago franchise, Rose dominated the MVP voting in ’10-’11, finishing with 113 first place votes out of a possible 121. But his numbers really aren’t any better than James that season. In fact, despite teaming up with another offensive powerhouse in Wade, James still outpaced Rose in both VORP and win shares. This third place finish broke up what could have been five consecutive MVPs for James, which would have been unprecedented. Another player whose stats and defensive prowess look better than Rose’s on paper was Howard, who settled for second in MVP voting but did win his third consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award.

15) ’72-’73: Dave Cowens over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

This is arguably the biggest robbery on this list and it probably comes down to MVP voters being tired of handing the award to Abdul-Jabbar. The Bucks star had won the award each of the last two seasons but failed to take it home a third straight time, despite posting a superior stat line to Cowens. In fact, the closer you look at it, the more egregious it is. Abdul-Jabbar put up 30.2 points per game compared to Cowens’ 20.5, matched him in rebounding, slightly edged him in assists, and absolutely dominated him in win shares (not that voters were considering that at the time). Even the argument that Cowens’ Celtics had a better record than Abdul-Jabbar’s Bucks doesn’t hold much water when you consider that Cowens had the far better supporting cast. Perhaps the voters just didn’t want the outspoken and defiantly Muslim Abdul-Jabbar matching legendary centers Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain with three consecutive MVPs.

16) ’80-’81: Julius Erving over Larry Bird

This was an especially tight race and for good reason. Erving and Bird were the clear-cut two best players in the league in ’80-’81, and their respective teams battled for the top seed in the East all season. It actually came down to the last game of the year in the standings and Bird clinched it for the Celtics with 24 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, and six steals as Boston defeated Philadelphia and took the #1 spot. While Bird was undoubtedly MVP of that game (Erving was held to 19 points on 9-of-19 shooting), voters picked Erving for the season’s trophy soon after. It was a bit of a lifetime achievement award for the long-time star, who was 30 years old and arguably past his prime at that point, while voters must have known that the young Bird would get his chance at MVPs in the near future. Sure enough, he eventually won three straight, starting with the ’83-’84 campaign. Bird also got the last laugh in this ’80-’81 season, leading the Celtics over Erving’s 76ers in a thrilling Conference Finals en route to the NBA championship.

17) ’69-’70: Willis Reed over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jerry West

By our metrics, West was the greatest player never to win the MVP award and of the four times he finished in second place in voting, this is when he came closest to taking it home. Part of West’s issue was always splitting votes with his Lakers teammate, Elgin Baylor, but the latter was aging quickly and no longer an elite threat by the ’69-’70 season. West’s 31.2 points per game led the league this season and he also came in fourth in assists. In the closest vote in history up to that point, the honoree was instead Reed, in a continuing resolution that centers were the dominant force in the pre-Magic and Bird NBA. Though Reed proved them correct in many ways by soon after adding a Finals MVP trophy in leading the Knicks to their first championship, his regular season stats actually paled in comparison to a rival center, Abdul-Jabbar. But the young Bucks center finished third in voting, coming up just short of joining Wes Unseld and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season.

18) ’04-’05: Steve Nash over Shaquille O’Neal
19) ’05-’06: Steve Nash over Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dirk Nowitzki
20) ’06-’07: Dirk Nowitzki over Steve Nash

Easily the most controversial three-year run in MVP voting history started in ’04-’05, when Nash won a close decision over O’Neal. In a year where no one truly stood out from the pack, Nash won it thanks to his innovative offensive approach that spearheaded an incredible turnaround for the Suns, from 29 wins in ’03-’04 to 62 wins and the #1 seed in the West in ’04-’05. Still, O’Neal had the better stats and his trade from Los Angeles to Miami arguably swung the standings even more dramatically that season. Nash’s second MVP win in ’05-’06 was much more egregious, as the Suns star’s statistics were easily outflanked by his former Dallas teammate Nowitzki, the rising star James, and the rejuvenated Bryant. In an interesting denouement, Nash was arguably the best choice in ’06-’07 but was denied the award, likely due to the backlash over his previous two wins. Instead the trophy went to Nowitzki, who accepted it under less than ideal circumstances, with the ceremony happening after he had severely choked in a stunning first round postseason loss to the Warriors.