5 times when a player from the losing team should have won the NBA Finals MVP award

The NBA Finals MVP award winner usually comes from the winning side, as the effort to help a team succeed in the NBA's biggest stage is naturally given more credence and recognition. However, Jerry West did win the award in its first year, back in 1969, after his team, the LA Lakers, fell to the Boston Celtics in a thrilling seven-game series.

In the 2015 NBA Finals between the eventual champions Golden State Warriors and LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers, 'The King' seemed to have a great case to win the award, even though his team lost.

In the 2021 NBA Finals, where the Phoenix Suns are leading 2-1, Giannis Antetokounmpo has arguably been the best player on the floor for the better part of the three games he has played so far. The Milwaukee Bucks' superstar has put up consecutive games with at least 40 points in Game 2 and 3. He is averaging 34 points and 14 rebounds so far, with an impressive 62.5% shooting efficiency from the field.

Instances when a player from the losing team could have won the NBA Finals MVP award

Giannis Antetokounmpo is also averaging around five assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game thus far. Could he be named the Finals MVP even if the Milwaukee Bucks lose? That remains be seen, as there is a lot of basketball to be played in the series.

Another NBA Finals MVP on the losing side of a series seems far-fetched and unrealistic in today's era. However, there have been instances in the past where a case could've been made in favor of a player on the losing side, especially when the winning team was filled with many contributors and valuable players.

On that note, let's have a look at the five instances when a player from the losing team in an NBA Finals series could've been named the Finals MVP award winner. Since the award has been existence since 1969, it goes without saying that anything before that has not been considered.

So without further ado, let's get started.

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#5 Shaquille O'Neal - 2004 NBA Finals

Shaquille O' Neal - Photo Credit: VCG.

Shaquille O'Neal won four championships and three Finals MVP awards during his extraordinary, dominant NBA career. He went six times to the NBA Finals and lost twice.

His first NBA Finals appearance came with the Orlando Magic in 1995, but Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets swept Shaq's team. The second time a Shaq team fell in the NBA Finals was in 2004, when the well-rounded, defensive-minded Detroit Pistons took down the LA Lakers down.

Chauncey Billups was named the Finals MVP after that series ended, but there was a case for O'Neal to have won the award, even after his team lost the series. Billups averaged 21 points and five assists in the series, but it was Richard Hamilton who led Detroit in scoring, averaging 21.4 points.

Meanwhile, Shaquille O'Neal averaged 26.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game while shooting 63.1% from the field. The blemish in Shaq's case, apart from losing the series 4-1, is that he made only 49.1% of his free throws in the series.

However, he averaged more than 25 points per game with efficiency against a team that allowed only one player to average over 20 points per game throughout the first three rounds of the postseason. Richard Jefferson shot 42% from the field in the second round.

The other player apart from Shaq to average over 20 points per game against that Pistons team led by four-time DPOY winner Ben Wallace was Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals, but he made only 38% of his field goals in the series.

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#4 Jerry West - 1970 NBA Finals

Jerry West.

Jerry West won the inaugural NBA Finals MVP award in 1969 after his LA Lakers team fell to Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics once again. West played fabulously in the series, averaging 37.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists while being the only Lakers player to register over 20 points a night.

He also had a 42-point triple-double in Game 7, registering 13 rebounds and 12 assists. The next year, West could've become a two-time Finals MVP award winner, even though his LA Lakers team lost again in the NBA Finals.

In the 1970 Finals against the New York Knicks, Willis Reed and Walt Frazier led a miraculous comeback to thwart West, who had another historic performance in an NBA Finals series.

West averaged 31.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game in that seven-game loss. He also shot 45% from the field and was instrumental in all three wins for the LA Lakers in that series, especially in Game 4, when LA tied the series riding on 37 points and 18 assists from West.

Reed won the Finals MVP award for his inspiring effort in Game 7, returning to action after missing Game 6 with a thigh injury from which he had not fully recovered.

#3 Julius Erving - 1977 NBA Finals

'The Doc'

The 1977 NBA Finals were all about the Portland Trail Blazers and Bill Walton, and rightfully so. However, Julius Erving definitely had a case to be awarded the Finals MVP award, even if his Philadelphia 76ers team had fallen in six games after squandering a 2-0 series lead.

Walton took home the NBA Finals MVP award that year, after averaging 18.5 points, 19 rebounds and five assists in the series. Maurice Lucas, though, led the Blazers in scoring and also averaged 10.7 rebounds per game. Of course, Walton was the driving force for the Trail Blazers.

At the other end, Dr. J put up 30.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, five assists and 2.7 steals per game for the Philadelphia 76ers in his debut NBA season. Erving did not have a bad game in the 1977 NBA Finals. He put up stunning efforts in the final two games of the series, registering 37 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in Game 5 and 40/6/8 in Game 6.

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#2 LeBron James - 2017 NBA Finals

LeBron James during the 2017 NBA Finals

LeBron James made a compelling case about the Finals MVP winner coming from the losing team after his stellar exploits in the 2015 NBA Finals series. That year, 'The King' played on the NBA's biggest stage without his two star teammates, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, both of home sutained injuries during the postseason.

Nevertheless, James put up a great effort in the series, averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game. However, he was not as efficient as he normally is, shooting only 39% from the field (although he had to take lots of shots each game). James took 196 shots in the series, the highest he has taken in any series during his legendary postseason career.

James had a better chance to win the Finals MVP award in a losing cause in 2017 when his Cleveland Cavaliers team faced the Golden State Warriors, who had Kevin Durant. But the Warriors turned out to be too hot to handle for James and the Cavaliers, with the eventual champions going 16-1 throughout the postseason, dropping their only game in the playoffs in Game 4 of the Finals series.

James put up 33.6 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists per game to become the first player in NBA Finals history to average a triple-double. He also put up shooting splits of 56/38/64. Kevin Durant, meanwhile, won the 2017 Finals MVP award after putting up averages of 35/8/5, but he was surrounded by a two-time MVP and two other All-NBA players too.

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#1 LeBron James - 2018 NBA Finals

'The King' during the 2018 NBA Finals

The 2018 NBA Finals panned out similar to the 2017 series between the KD-led Golden State Warriors and LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers. However, James' supporting cast wore a different look in 2018, as Kyrie Irving was no longer a Cavs player, and the team was essentially built during the trade deadline.

James inspired the Cavs to the NBA Finals with a stunning performance against their Eastern Conference rivals. However, despite 'The King' averaging 34 points, 8.5 rebounds and ten assists in the Finals series, the Golden State Warriors swept the Cavaliers to win the title, with Durant winning the Finals MVP award once again.

Kevin Love was impressive for the Cavs in the series, averaging 19 points and 11 rebounds per game. But he was the only other Cleveland player to average over ten points a night.