The NBA added to its list of individual player awards multiple times over the last decade, most recently in 2023 when it adopted the Clutch Player of the Year award. LeBron James suggested the league could benefit from a new honor modeled after the NFL’s approach with the introduction of an Offensive Player of the Year trophy. The NBA has never featured that award, while the MVP generally goes to offensive standouts.
Criteria for the MVP award seemingly changes by the year, with team success often playing an integral role in determining the worthy recipient. Adding a new trophy to the NBA’s collection could help standardize what is an inherently subjective selection process.
“I did think about how the NFL does Offensive Player of the Year and MVP,” James said on the “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash. “I thought that could possibly be something in our league, where you give an Offensive Player of the Year and an MVP. Not saying we should do it, but it was something that was pretty cool in the NFL how they do that.”
It is not uncommon for the best offensive player on the league’s best team to win the MVP award, and that was the case in the 2024-25 season when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hauled in the trophy with his historically prolific campaign on the Oklahoma City Thunder, who dominated the Western Conference en route to a 68-14 record — 16 games better than the next-best in that half of the league — before winning the championship over the Indiana Pacers.
Biggest NBA offseason questions left: What’s next for the Celtics? What will LeBron do? Aggressive Warriors?
Sam Quinn
Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic had a strong case, too, as he averaged a triple-double at 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game. Voter fatigue and the team success element could have played a role in preventing Jokić from winning a fourth MVP title in four years.
If an OPOY award was in existence, there would have been a strong case for that honor to go to Gilgeous-Alexander and the MVP distinction to go to Jokić.
“It changes,” James said of the MVP selection criteria. “Is it the best player? Is it the player that had the best season with his team? Maybe that’s Offensive Player of the Year. Or is it just simply the best player in the league? Obviously you’re not going to have a guy in there that the team didn’t come close to making the playoffs. If that’s the case, then he’s not the most valuable then. I don’t know. It just changes too much.”
The NBA has given out a Defensive Player of the Year award since 1983 but has never had an offensive-specific trophy. The IBM Award was perhaps the closest thing to it, as the defunct honor used a computer formula to measure a player’s statistical contributions to their team.
“You could be on a poor team, have an unbelievable offensive year and still win Offensive Player of the Year,” Nash said. “And vice versa; you could maybe not have the best year in the league, but you were the most valuable in taking your team to a new height.”
Watch all your favorite Amazon Prime Video Sports broadcasts live and free. Get access to NFL, NBA, NASCAR, WNBA, and more – all included with your Prime membership!