There are many NBA players with multiple MVP awards, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won six such accolades in his career, the most of any player ever. His lead there should be pretty safe, too, especially as LeBron James’ career continues to wind down. James has four in his own right.
But what if NBA players could only win the award once in their careers, as is the case with, for example, writers and the Literature Nobel prize.
We went back in time and looked up the MVP vote through the years to find out.
Check out the results below.
Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports Network
Finished first in the MVP vote
Telegram & Gazette-USA TODAY NETWORK
Finished first in the MVP vote
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Finished first in the MVP vote
Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports
Finished third in the MVP vote after Bob Pettit and Bill Russell
Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports
Finished first in the MVP vote
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Network.
Finished fifth in the MVP vote after Bill Russell, Bob Pettit, Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports Copyright (c) 2004 Malcolm Emmons
Finished fifth in the MVP vote after Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Elgin Baylor
Finished in the MVP vote sixth after Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson, Bob Pettit and Jerry West
Malcolm Emmons- USA TODAY Sports
Finished sixth in the MVP vote after Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Bob Pettit and Jerry West
Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports Network
Finished fourth in the MVP vote after Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Finished fifth in the MVP vote after Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson and Bill Russell
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Finished in the MVP vote second after Wilt Chamberlain
Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports
Finished second in the MVP vote after Wilt Chamberlain
Malcolm Emmons- USA TODAY Sports
Finished first in the MVP vote
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Network.
Finished first in the MVP vote
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Network.
Finished first in the MVP vote
Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports
Finished fourth in the MVP vote after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain
Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports
Finished first in the MVP vote
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Finished second in the MVP vote after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Network.
Finished third in the MVP vote after Bob McAdoo and Dave Cowens
Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports
Finished fourth in the MVP vote after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob McAdoo and Dave Cowens
(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Finished second in the MVP vote after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports © Copyright Malcolm Emmons
Finished second in the MVP vote after Bill Walton
(Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
Finished first in the MVP vote
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Finished second in the MVP vote after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
(Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)
Finished second in the MVP vote after Julius Erving
USA TODAY Sports
Finished fourth in the MVP vote after Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Julius Erving
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports – copyright (c) Malcolm Emmons
Finished third in the MVP vote after Moses Malone and Larry Bird
(Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)
Finished second in the MVP vote after Larry Bird
Focus on Sport/Getty Images
Finished fifth in the MVP vote after Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Moses Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
USA TODAY Sports
Finished second in the MVP vote after Larry Bird
(Photos by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
Finished second in the MVP vote after Magic Johnson
(Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Finished fourth in the MVP vote after Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson
USA TODAY Sports
Finished third in the MVP vote after Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan
Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
Finished fifth in the MVP vote after Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan and Karl Malone
DAN LEVINE/AFP via Getty Images
Finished third in the MVP vote after Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson
USA TODAY Sports
Finished second in the MVP vote after Michael Jordan
By USA TODAY Sports (c) Copyright USA TODAY Sports
Finished second in the MVP vote after Charles Barkley
Jed Jacobsohn /Allsport
Finished third in the MVP vote after Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Finished second in the MVP vote after David Robinson
RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Finished third in the MVP vote after Michael Jordan and David Robinson
MATT CAMPBELL/AFP via Getty Images
Finished third in the MVP vote after Karl Malone and Michael Jordan
(DAN LEVINE/AFP via Getty Images)
Finished third in the MVP vote after Michael Jordan and Karl Malone
(ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
Finished second in the MVP vote after Karl Malone
(CRAIG LASSIG/AFP via Getty Images)
Finished second in the MVP vote after Shaquille O’Neal
(JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)
Finished first in the MVP vote
(Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
Finished first in the MVP vote
(Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)
Finished third in the MVP vote after Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett
(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Finished third in the MVP vote after Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan
(Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Finished first in the MVP vote
(Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Finished second in the MVP vote after Steve Nash
(Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
Finished first in the MVP vote
(Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Finished second in the MVP vote after Kobe Bryant
Finished third in the MVP vote after LeBron James and Kobe Bryant
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Finished second in the MVP vote after LeBron James
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Finished first in the MVP vote
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Finished fifth in the MVP vote after LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Finished third in the MVP vote after LeBron James and Kevin Durant
Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Finished third in the MVP vote after Kevin Durant and LeBron James
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Finished first in the MVP vote
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Finished second in the MVP vote after Stephen Curry
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Finished first in the MVP vote
Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Finished first in the MVP vote
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Finished first in the MVP vote
(Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Finished fourth in the MVP vote after Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James and James Harden
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Finished first in the MVP vote
John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Finished second in the MVP vote after Nikola Jokic
Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Finished fourth in the MVP vote after Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo
Finished second in the MVP vote after Nikola Jokic