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NBA MVPs and Legends: Facts

NBA MVPs, legends and pioneers: the players, coaches and people who changed the league's history.

1947 Japanese-American guard Wataru Misaka broke the league's colour barrier in 1947, playing three games for the New York Knicks, three years before the first Black player.

1950 On 31 October 1950 Earl Lloyd of the Washington Capitols became the first Black player to appear in an NBA game. Chuck Cooper and Nat Clifton debuted within days.

1956 Bob Pettit of the St. Louis Hawks won the first NBA MVP award, handed out for the 1955-56 season.

1958 Before joining the NBA, Wilt Chamberlain spent the 1958-59 season touring the world with the Harlem Globetrotters.

1959 In January 1959 Elgin Baylor refused to play a game in Charleston, West Virginia, because a local hotel would not take the team's Black players.

3 Bill Sharman is the only coach to win titles in three pro leagues: the ABL (1962), the ABA (1971) and the NBA (1972). He also invented the game-day morning shootaround.

1964 In December 1964 the Boston Celtics became the first NBA team to start five Black players in a game.

3,338 Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn popularised the terms 'slam dunk' and 'air ball'. From 1965 to 2001 he called 3,338 Lakers games in a row.

1966 In 1966 Bill Russell became the Celtics' player-coach and the first Black head coach in NBA history. He won two more titles in that double role.

1970 In 1970 Oscar Robertson, president of the players' association, sued the NBA. The case held up the NBA-ABA merger for six years, and the 1976 settlement brought free agency.

1979 The 1979 NCAA final between Magic Johnson's Michigan State and Larry Bird's Indiana State is still the most-watched college basketball game in US TV history.

1980 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played co-pilot Roger Murdock in the 1980 comedy Airplane!, arguing with a boy who insists he is a basketball star.

1981 In December 1981 guard Lloyd Free legally changed his first name to World. It came from his playground nickname All-World, earned with 360-degree dunks as a teenager.

3 Larry Bird won three MVP awards in a row, from 1984 to 1986. Only Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain had done that before him.

1992 In November 1991 Magic Johnson announced he had HIV and retired. Yet he played in the 1992 All-Star Game and was named its MVP.

183 At 1.83 m (6 ft), Allen Iverson, MVP in 2001, is the shortest player ever to win the award.

2016 In 2016 Stephen Curry became the first unanimous MVP in NBA history.

#6 In 2022 the NBA retired Bill Russell's number 6 for every team in the league, the first time it honoured a player that way.

2022 In March 2022 Gregg Popovich passed Don Nelson to become the winningest coach in NBA history.

2024 On 22 October 2024 LeBron James and his son Bronny took the court together for the Lakers. They became the first father and son to play together in an NBA game.

16 Tyrese Haliburton returned more than 16 months after rupturing his Achilles tendon and led the Pacers to an opening-night win on 21 October 2026.

6 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six regular-season MVP awards, the most in NBA history.

9 Red Auerbach coached the Celtics to nine titles and liked to light a victory cigar on the bench once a win was safe, infuriating opponents.

4 Steve Nash had four 50-40-90 seasons, shooting at least 50% from the field, 40% from three and 90% from the line. No one else has more than two.

1,001 Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich won 1,001 regular-season games together, more than any other player and coach duo.

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