5 Players who won the NBA MVP award quickest in their career

Five NBA players who won the MVP award quickest in their career

Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks.

#3 Bob Pettit - NBA MVP winner as a sophomore

Speaking of Bob Pettit, the first winner of the NBA MVP award in history, also won it in just his second year in the NBA.

Fresh off winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award in the 1954-55 season, Pettit took the first MVP in league history in the 1955-56 campaign after averaging 25.7 points and 16.2 rebounds.

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The Hall of Fame center went on to win another NBA MVP award later in his career and led the St. Louis Hawks to the NBA championship in 1958 where they defeated Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics. In those Finals, Pettit averaged 29 points and 17 rebounds per game.

He is also tied with Kobe Bryant with four All-Star Game MVPs (the most in league history).

#2 Wes Unseld - NBA MVP winner as a rookie

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In the 1968-69 season, Wes Unseld became the second rookie (and the last) in NBA history to win the NBA MVP award.

The Baltimore Bullets had selected Unseld with the second overall pick of the 1968 NBA Draft, and the center averaged 13.8 points (lowest for an MVP) and 18.2 rebounds per game as a rookie.

Though he was the team's fifth-best scorer that season, Unseld led them in Win Shares and the Bullets' 57-25 record (best in the league) helped him win the award in the players' eyes (players voted for the NBA MVP award until the 1979-80 season).

#1 Wilt Chamberlain - NBA MVP winner as a rookie

Chamberlain with the LA Lakers in the closing stages of his NBA career.

Among Wilt Chamberlain's impressive collection of the NBA's records, scoring 100 points in a single game, he was also the first player to win the NBA MVP in his rookie season. Chamberlain changed the league in the 1960s. His athleticism and touch made him an unstoppable scorer.

As a rookie for the Philadelphia Warriors in the 1959-60 season, the dominant Chamberlain averaged 37.6 points and 27 rebounds per game to win both, the Rookie of the Year award as well as the NBA MVP trophy.

The team was coming off a 32-40 season the previous year, and Chamberlain led them to a 49-26 regular-season record and the Division Finals as a rookie.