The 25 greatest NBA players who never won MVP

West finished second in MVP voting a whopping four times, including three years in a row towards the end of his career. He still has some unique MVP history, though, that will likely never be repeated: He's the first and currently only player to win Finals MVP while playing for the losing team, having done so in the 1969 Finals against the Celtics.

Wade was one of the NBA's most feared players during his initial 13-year run with the Heat. He was at perhaps his most potent in 2009, when he led the league in scoring with a hair over 30 points a game. He finished just third in MVP voting that season, though, and it was as close as he ever got to winning.

From 1961 to 1963, Baylor averaged 25 points, 17 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. In the final of those seasons, he came second in MVP voting behind Bill Russell. That followed two third-place finishes, but he never got over the hump despite his legendary career.

Luka has had opportunities to claim an MVP trophy, including two seasons when he led the NBA in points per game. The trouble, though, is that he's up against some other worthy contenders. Nikola Jokić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have won the past few, while Victor Wembanyama will likely also continue to be in the running for at least the next few years.

Not only is Stockton the all-time leader in both total steals and assists, but nobody is particularly close, and his records are unlikely to be broken. Despite that, he never really came close to winning an MVP award. Teammate Karl Malone picked up a couple of trophies, though, and the perception that Stockton wasn't even the best player on his own team probably didn't help his case.

Stockton has those untouchable records, but Paul is second in both categories. His closest brush with the MVP trophy was in 2008, just his third season. Kobe Bryant took the award home that year, but Paul was the next leading vote-getter.

Ewing was an incredibly big man, but the trouble was that he was never the best one in the league. He finished in the top five in MVP voting six times, but he was never the power forward or center with the most votes. Ewing tended to rank behind some combination of Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Charles Barkley, and Karl Malone- some great company.

Kawhi has had a pair of top-three MVP finishes in his career so far, though he wasn't really close to winning either time. The numbers and the performances are often there, but what's not is availability: Over his first 14 seasons, Leonard only finished a game with at least 70 games played twice and appeared in fewer than 60 contests six times.

Drexler had a five-season run where he averaged 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. The issue was that he played in an era stacked with all-time greats. In 1992, for example, he finished second in MVP voting behind Michael Jordan.

Tim Duncan won the MVP trophy in 2002, but it was far from a landslide. He finished with 57 first-place votes, while Kidd was right behind him with 45. It was a strong season for Kidd, leading the Nets to a 52-30 record on averages of 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists a night.

Gervin had back-to-back years in 1978 and '79 when he came up just short and finished second in MVP voting, despite leading the league in scoring both seasons. In '78, he lost to Bill Walton, while Moses Malone won in '79. He came third in 1980 but never got that close again.

Thomas was the heartbeat of the Pistons in the '80s, and he even led the NBA in assists per game in 1985. His best shot at MVP, though, came in 1984, when he finished fifth in the voting. He can't feel too bad, though, considering he has a Finals MVP trophy from 1990.

Payton is a rare guard to have won the Defensive Player of the Year Award. He never translated his defensive and playmaking prowess into MVP consideration, though. In 1998, he was a distant third in MVP voting, and that was the final time he sniffed the top five.

Davis is an all-around talent who has had some MVP-caliber seasons. That includes 2018, when he came in third for the award. Trouble with injuries and staying on the court, though, has prevented him from consistently being a contender.

Though Larry Bird was the overwhelming MVP favorite in 1986, Wilkins was the only other candidate to draw at least a single first-place vote. His Hawks were great that year, finishing with a 50-32 regular-season record after a humble start, so that certainly helped his case. While he was one of the league's biggest stars for over a decade, that was as close as he came to winning the NBA's biggest individual honor.

McGrady was unstoppable for a while, like his run from 2001 to 2005, when he led the league in scoring twice and averaged just under 28 points a game. Despite that, he only ever hung around the periphery of the MVP conversation. He finished fourth in voting in both 2002 and 2003, with just a handful of first-place votes each year.

Simply put, there was nothing Pippen could do to escape the shadow of Michael Jordan. He took the reins when MJ was out of the league in 1994, though, and made the 55-27 Bulls surprisingly competitive. That earned him some outside MVP consideration, but not enough to top Hakeem Olajuwon.

Younger NBA fans might remember Carter as a reliable veteran journeyman who bounced around with a few teams for about a decade. He was an absolute star in the 2000s, though, as one of the league's biggest scorers and highlight producers. He never really came close to the MVP trophy, though, finishing within the top ten of voting just once.

Even after some injury trouble, Stoudemire returned to form and actually had some of his best seasons. Mounting injuries, though, definitely prevented him from reaching his full potential. Amar'e was never a serious MVP candidate, but had his knees held up, his story could have been a lot different.

After developing into one of the most potent offensive threats in the NBA while in Denver, he continued on that trajectory in New York. His 2013 campaign was particularly stunning, with a league-leading 29 points per game and a 54-28 record for the Knicks. He received just one first-place MVP vote that year, though, and never got that close again.

Similar to Amar'e Stoudemire, Hill's potential was hampered by health issues. Like Amar'e, he was still a league-leading star, and he even managed a third-place MVP finish in 1997. That was his first and last time finishing in the top five, though.

Within a few feet of the basket, there was no bigger force in the NBA than Dwight at his peak. This made him a regular in the MVP conversation, but his best chance was coming in second, by a landslide, to Derrick Rose in 2011. Howard is probably doing just fine with his three consecutive DPOY trophies, though.

Tatum has proven himself one of the NBA's finest all-around players, averaging 28 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists per game from 2021 to 2025. Like others from his era, though, it's hard to measure up against stars like SGA, Jokić, and Giannis. Tatum is still just in his 20s, but it would still be tough for him to make a case for himself.

The '90s and 2000s were full of dominant big men, so sometimes Mourning gets lost in the shuffle. In 1999, he put up 20 points, 11 rebounds, and a league-leading 4 blocks per game, just barely losing the MVP trophy to Karl Malone. He finished third the next season, though he did win the DPOY award both of those years.

Before accepting a reduced role to win a championship in Boston, Ray was a big-time offensive driver. He averaged 26 points a game over his final two seasons in Seattle, and the year before that, he had his sole top-10 career MVP finish. Allen's shooting made him a tremendous asset, but never on the MVP level.