1) Michael Jordan, Bulls (’87-’88)

Already considered one of the league’s top superstars, Jordan took it into the next stratosphere in ’87-’88. He won his second straight scoring title, led the NBA in steals, and carried the Bulls to 50 wins and the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference. Of course, all of that plus being the first player ever to earn league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season meant nothing to Jordan if it resulted in less than a championship. After a first round series win over the Cavaliers, Jordan’s Bulls were dominated in the Conference Semifinals by the Pistons, who would eliminate them again in the next three postseasons. Jordan finally got his revenge on Detroit in ’90-’91, the same year he earned both league MVP and Finals MVP for the first of an eventual four times.

2) Wes Unseld, Bullets (’68-’69)

Wilt Chamberlain was the first player to earn Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season, which ended with his Warriors putting up a battle against the dynastic Celtics in the Conference Finals. Unseld repeated the trophy feat in ’68-’69 but his subsequent postseason was much briefer. Thanks to Unseld’s performance, the Bullets improved by 21 wins in his rookie season and entered the playoffs as the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference. But with several of his teammates sidelined by injury, most notably Gus Johnson, Unseld’s Bullets were no match in the playoffs for the Knicks, who eliminated them in a first round sweep. After New York knocked them out of the playoffs again in 1970, Unseld led the ’70-’71 Bullets to their first of four NBA Finals appearances in his career.

3) LeBron James, Cavaliers (’09-’10)

With championship-or-bust expectations and free agency looming, all eyes were on James in the spring of 2010. His Cavaliers had won 60+ games and clinched the #1 seed in the East for the second straight season, and were heavily favored in a Conference Semifinals series against the aging Celtics. Just one day after the announcement that he was MVP for the second straight season, James’ Cavs were blown out at home as the Celtics evened their series at 1-1. Boston eventually eliminated Cleveland in six games en route to a surprise NBA Finals appearance. A vexed James ended the series pulling off his jersey in frustration while exiting the court, a harbinger of his upcoming departure to sign with the Heat.

4) Moses Malone, Rockets (’78-’79)
5) Moses Malone, Rockets (’81-’82)

NBA playoff proceedings were generally more unpredictable before the league finally did away with best-of-three series. The ’78-’79 Rockets are one of the prime examples of that abbreviated mayhem. Led by Malone, who earned his first of three league MVPs, the Rockets won 47 games that season, including taking three of four from the Hawks. But the playoffs were a different story, with Atlanta pulling off a stunning two-game first round sweep before the Rockets even knew what hit them. Houston made amends with a surprise run to the 1981 NBA Finals but when Malone earned his second MVP in ’81-’82, postseason disaster once again awaited. The Rockets lost another best-of-three first round series, this time to Seattle, and Malone was traded that offseason to the 76ers.

6) Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks (’06-’07)

For almost any other player, accepting the NBA league MVP trophy has been a pinnacle of their career but for Nowitzki in 2007, it was more of an embarrassment. His Mavericks entered the playoffs that year with 67 wins, the #1 seed, and title expectations. Two weeks later their season was over, shockingly dispatched in the first round by the Warriors. Nowitzki became the first reigning MVP of the 16-team era to lose in the first round of the playoffs, and only Russell Westbrook has joined him since. This set up a humiliation ritual for the German superstar, as the NBA protocol at the time was to hand out the trophy in a ceremony before a second round playoff game. An ashamed looking Nowitzki instead had to accept the trophy during a press conference.

7) Karl Malone, Jazz (’98-’99)

His ’98-’99 win is one of the most controversial MVP choices in NBA history and Malone didn’t help his legitimacy case in the subsequent playoffs. Following a bizarre and disjointed ’98-’99 season that was delayed and shortened due to a lockout, Malone earned his second MVP in a tight voting result. The Jazz entered the postseason as the two-time defending Western Conference champs but they just barely survived a first round upset attempt from the Kings before getting summarily eliminated by the Blazers in the Conference Semifinals. Malone looked old and tired in the clinching game six of that series, shooting 3-of-16 from the field for only eight points. MVP runner-up Alonzo Mourning had an even worse postseason, as his #1 seed Heat were stunned in the first round by the Knicks. But third-place finisher Tim Duncan led the Spurs to a title and earned Finals MVP.

“Amidst constant rumors and innuendo about his impending free agency decision, Antetokounmpo also had to deal with COVID protocols and isolation, an ejection and suspension for head butting Washington’s Moe Wagner during a game, and his team wildcat striking a game in protest after a police shooting occurred near Milwaukee.”

8) Bill Walton, Trail Blazers (’77-’78)

In late February of the ’77-’78 season, Walton suffered a broken foot that would go on to define the remainder of his career. He missed all of March and the first half of April before returning, too hastily it would seem, for the playoffs. Despite that lengthy time sidelined, Walton still earned league MVP in a close voting result over second-place George Gervin. Walton made a go of it for Portland’s first round series against the SuperSonics, but re-injured his foot in game two and the Blazers were subsequently eliminated in six. Walton would never play for the Blazers again, suing the team doctor for negligence, sitting out the ’78-’79 season in protest, then signing as a free agent with the Clippers.

9) Russell Westbrook, Thunder (’16-’17)

With James Harden and Kevin Durant departed, Russell Westbrook was essentially the entire Thunder offense in ’16-’17 and it showed. He made history as just the second player ever to average a triple-double for an entire season while simultaneously winning the scoring title with 31.6 points per game. It was an incredible individual performance, enough to carry the otherwise anemic Thunder into the playoffs. But an equally Herculean effort in the postseason wasn’t enough for them to advance out of the first round. Facing his former teammate Harden’s Rockets, Westbrook averaged 37.4 points, 11.6 rebounds, 10.8 assists, and 2.4 steals per game but the Rockets easily advanced in five games. Unlike Dirk Nowitzki a decade prior, Westbrook was able to avoid embarrassment by accepting his MVP trophy in a newly instituted post-Finals awards ceremony.

10) Artis Gilmore, Kentucky Colonels (’71-’72)
11) Julius Erving, New York Nets (’74-’75)

Gilmore took the ABA by storm in ’71-’72, leading the Kentucky Colonels to a 68-16 record and earning both Rookie of the Year and league MVP. The Colonels entered the 1972 postseason as the #1 seed and heavy favorites, having lost in the prior year’s Finals. Instead, they ran into an offensive buzzsaw in the first round, with Rick Barry leading the Nets to a first round upset in six games. The Nets reached the 1972 ABA Finals then subsequently rebuilt, losing Barry to the NBA and drafting Erving. In ’73-’74, Dr. J became just the second player in ABA history to earn league MVP and Playoffs MVP in the same season, leading the Nets to their first ever title. Erving repeated as league MVP in ’74-’75 but on the day that honor was announced, his Nets were shockingly eliminated from the playoffs by the Spirits of St. Louis in a first round upset. The eventual champions in 1975 were the Colonels, with Gilmore earning Playoffs MVP. Erving was named both league MVP and Playoffs MVP one more time in ’75-’76, the ABA’s last season before the merger.

12) Tim Duncan, Spurs (’01-’02)

It’s difficult to overstate just how stacked the Western Conference was in the early ’00s, where 50-win teams could easily become early playoffs fodder. That fate awaited the Spurs and Duncan in ’01-’02, when he earned his first league MVP and led the team to a 58-24 record. San Antonio just barely survived a first round upset bid from the #7 SuperSonics to set up a Conference Semifinals showdown with the Lakers. When Duncan accepted his MVP trophy on May 10, spirits were high as the series was tied 1-1 and headed back to San Antonio. But the Lakers won the next three games in a row, each time with the Spurs blowing a fourth quarter lead. It was no fault of Duncan, who averaged 29.0 points and 17.2 rebounds per game in the series.

13) Magic Johnson, Lakers (’89-’90)

Johnson had something to prove in his first season playing without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and did enough to earn his third league MVP trophy. Even more impressive, Johnson led the Lakers to the best record in the NBA with 63 wins, just as prognosticators were decrying the end of the “Showtime” dynasty. But by the time the NBA announced that May that Johnson had edged out Charles Barkley in a tight MVP voting result, the Lakers’ season was over. They were upset in the Conference Semifinals by the Suns and in decisive fashion in five games. Johnson was terrific offensively in the series but struggled on the other end to contain Phoenix’s young star Kevin Johnson. It broke a streak of eight straight seasons in which the Lakers had reached at least the Conference Finals.

14) Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks (’19-’20)

We’ve detailed some extremely awkward MVP announcements on this list but none can touch Antetokounmpo contritely accepting via video conferencing in 2020 from his home in Athens. It was an appropriately uncanny end to a strange season for the Greek superstar. The Bucks were looking near unstoppable before the league shut down operations in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When play resumed in “The Bubble,” Milwaukee struggled to recapture their magic and looked vulnerable. Already dealing with injuries and free agency rumors, Antetokounmpo now had to add COVID protocols, isolation, a suspension for head butting an opponent, and his team wildcat striking a playoff game in protest of police violence. It all crested in an especially frustrating Conference Semifinals loss to the Heat, where Giannis committed a costly foul in the waning moments of game two, then was forced to sit out the clinching game five with an ankle injury.