The NBA Finals MVP was introduced in the 1968-69 season, given to the player who performed the best in the NBA Finals for the championship team, with Jerry West in 1969 being the only exception selected from the losing team.
The greatest players who have ever played the game put their mark in having the biggest moments and the best stat lines. Moments varying from LeBron James' block to come back from being down 3-1 in a series, Michael Jordan pushing off Byron Russell to win his sixth championship, Magic Johnson's baby skyhook to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 3-1 over the Boston Celtics, and a lot more.
The best stat lines are left for the G.O.A.T’s, here are the five best stat lines put up by an NBA Finals MVP.
5. Nikola Jokić in 2023
Nikola Jokic has blessed the NBA world with his inhuman stat lines over the last five seasons. It's not a surprise in the 2023 NBA Finals he would have one of the greatest stat lines in NBA Finals history.
30.2 points, 14 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.4 blocks, on .583/.421/.838 shooting splits. He posted two triple doubles in the series, including the only 30-20-10 triple-double in NBA finals history, and made history when he and Jamal Murray became the only teammates with double-digit assists in an NBA finals game.
Jokic was spectacular in the 2023 finals. Cementing himself as one of the greatest centers and players the game has ever seen and capturing the Denver Nuggets first ever NBA championship.
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021
Giannis Antetokounmpo's performance in the 2021 NBA finals is one of the most underrated of all time. Entering the series, he was questionable to play the first few games due to a hyper extended knee, but he showed through.
He averaged 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, five assists, 1.2 steals, 1.8 blocks on .618/.200/.659 shooting splits. His 61.8 field goal percentage is the highest of any Finals MVP. He accumulated three 40-point games, which is tied for second most in a single series, and in Game 6 dropped 50 points. Those 50 points are tied for the sixth-most in an NBA Finals game, and tied for the most ever in a close-out NBA Finals game.
Antetokounmpo was spectacular, who had one of the best defensive plays in Game 4, blocking Deandre Ayton on an alley-oop, when the Milwaukee Bucks were up two with a minute left. In game five, he had an alley-oop finished that sealed the game after a Jrue Holiday steal. In Game 6, he dropped 50 in part to going 17-for-19 from the free throw line, after being antagonized the entire playoffs for taking too long to shoot them and missing them.
This ended up giving Milwaukee their first championship since 1971.
3. Shaquille O'Neal in 200-
Shaquille O'Neal in the NBA finals from 2000-2002 are three of the best, but his stat line from the 2000 Finals was his best ever — 38 points, 16.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, one steal, 2.7 blocks on .611/N/A/.387 shooting splits.
O’Neal finished this series with the second-highest scoring average of any Finals MVP, including three 40-point games. His lowest point total in any game was 33 points, and his lowest field goal percentage in a game was 52 percent.
O’Neal had the most dominant performance of any player in this series. The Indiana Pacers didn't have the bodies to stop him from putting up arguably the greatest stat line ever seen in the Finals, and helped the Los Angeles Lakers win their first championship since 1988.
2. Michael Jordan in 1993
Michael Jordan has also had some of the best NBA Finals performances of all-time, but his performance in 1993 was not only his best, but also could be considered as the greatest ever — 41 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals, on .508/.400/.694 shooting splits.
His 41 points per game average is the highest of any player in NBA finals history, where he is tied for first with the most 40-point games in a single final, with four. In all but one game, he shot at or above 50 percent from the field and in one game dropped 55 points, tied for the second-most in an NBA Finals game.
Jordan displayed the greatest scoring performances in the Finals in this series. There was nothing the Phoenix Suns could do with him, which allowed Jordan to win his third consecutive Finals MVP, and championship, allowing the Chicago Bulls to be the first team since the Celtics to win three straight championships.
1. LeBron James in 2016
LeBron James in the 2016 NBA Finals did things that had never been done before. Most notably, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to become the first team to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the finals, while doing it against the greatest regular season team of all-time.
He finished with 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.6 steals, 2.3 blocks, on .494/.371/.721 shooting splits. On the surface, a near 30-point triple double is impressive but doesn't seem like it would be the best stat line in NBA Finals history. Except James also became the only player to lead both teams in every major statistical category (points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks).
The first four games of the series, James was pedestrian by his standards, but he dropped back-to-back 41-point games in Game 5 and Game 6 and became the third player in NBA history to have a triple-double in Game 7 of the finals. Game seven has the greatest defensive play with James' chase down block, to help give Cleveland their first ever championship.