For those of you who have been following the series so far, the brand new content is the 60s, which begins at 1:38. Also new is 2020-2022, which begins at 1:13:38. Which ones do you disagree with?

You should do this for DPOYs as well

Kareem being a 9 time MVP and Jordan an 8 time MVP sounds about right. But I’d let Jordan keep the ‘98 MVP given the amount of adversity his team faced that year with the impending break up of the dynasty, Pippen missing 38 games, Rodman’s decline and the fact that the Bulls were going for their third straight chip as the oldest team in the league and they all must have been fatigued.

I'll be honest... I didn't realize how phenomenal Jerry West was. I'm not fortunate enough to have seen him play, but man, he sounds like an absolute baller. Didn't know he was an all time great defender as well. I'll definitely have to read up more on him. Great video!

This video increased my appreciation for players before my time. Moses Malone was a frickin’ beast.

This video: *exists* Wilt, Kareem, Michael, Kobe & LeBron:

Oscar Robertson had some phenomenal seasons thru his career (Chamberlain numbers was just bananas even when he wasn't leading league in scoring 24 points, 24 rebounds 7 assist and league MVP along with championship, doesn't get any better than that)

This may be the coolest NBA video on youtube. Thanks for uploading.

I loved this series before. NOW YOU MADE IT ALL IN ONE VIDEO. GREAT WORK!

I've said it before, I'll say it again, this is the best NBA KZfaqr in the game. It's always about sports, always informative, and always well researched. Great job and thank you for your service. 👍🏾

Watching Abdul-Jabbar take those Sky Hooks and his follow through is poetry on the court.

This video is absolute gold. Thanks for your hard work.

Boy the 80s were a fascinating time. Legends everywhere

The amount of research. Most diligent and unbiased NBA channel on KZfaq. ❤

I'm from the UK, I only understand enough about the NBA that I named my son Jordan after the finals were televised here in 1998, but bro this was a great video, I was hooked all the way through.

Its a damn shame BLOCKS and STEALS were not recorded.

60s NBA don't get enough love coz of few teams but West, Baylor, Oscar and Wilt would dominate ANY era and I am sure of that. Phenomenal efficiency and durability in a time when it was hard to do so.

Very informative breakdown with great attention to detail! 🔥vid

All I have to say is ....... GREAT VIDEO !! .. The research, facts, numbers comparison, along with the narrative, as to the why(?), are AWESOME.

Was waiting for this one 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

How about a video on if the MVP was given for the whole entire season, postseason included. Like for example in 2007 Dirk got MVP, but was eliminated early, so I'd say Lebron was MVP for entire 2007 season, but in 2009 when he got MVP, then Kobe should've been it for all 2009.

Tremendous work, thanks for that wonderful video

Great video Johnny. You put a lot of work in your videos and it shows

Great video Mr. Arnett I enjoy your eloquent approach to your videos! I think it would be cool to follow this up with the Finals mvps videos?

Haven't watched the full video yet but Wilt's season with 50.4ppg-25.7rpg and the historic 100pts game being snubbed for MVP is probably one of , if not the biggest and wildest MVP snub in League history.

Obviously I have some disagreements but this was phenomenal! I love how you actually include both sides of the ball and not just offense. Too many people only focus on the offensive side it’s crazy

I've been waiting loong time for this😍😍😍😍😍these MVP videos are my favourite NBA videos. I would like to wait until this season finish and than make another video about Finals MVPs 😁😁. For now, I want to thank you for your content and your interesting videos.

absolutely love your videos ❤

I think my one problem with this is that you're over-valuing guard defense. It has its values, I'd always take a good defender over a bad one, but for a lot of the Kobe years, especially the one where you pick him over Duncan, you're valuing both of their defensive contributions similarly when Duncan being the best paint defender is way more valuable. Duncan could effect almost any shot taken at the rim, Kobe could help occasionally on those shots but was mostly only valuable when ball-hawking for steals or when the action came to him. I think using defense as a separator when both players play the same position is alright, I just think that rim protection is the most valuable part of defense. Especially in the early 2000s and before, when three-point shooting was still uncommon.

This is awesome, man! Thanks for making this. 👏🙌

Great vid as always. Very nice to see the 60s. I think it really helps to put into perspective why each wilt, Kareem, mj and Bron are considered to be the best in their respective eras.

This is the MOST impressive stellar work i've seen on youtube in a while

Bruh I appreciate your time in putting out this video. It definitely shows who the real goat is

An hour video! What a treat 🤗

I know you only looked at NBA but I think it's worth including ABA in the 70s since it was a separate major pro league and had some of the best players at the time. Dr J probably gets the nod over Kareem in a couple of those years.

What A great video. Great job Budd.

I was waiting for this video for so long.

I appreciate the work you put into your videos. I learn something new everytime. 👏🏿👏🏿

Great work! Thank you

Wilt - what a tremendous player, athlete, and dominant force. He was the reason that all the teams he played on won like they did! Hard to vote against Wilt for the G.O.A.T.!!!

My god Larry bird is a monster, those highlights were crazy. NOBODY has all those moves he did, that was amazing

Only stupid thing is how Joel won this years mvp. It’s was a “here nigga damn stop crying” award

Great analysis. I agree with most everything you have presented

Some of the work you guys put in on KZfaq would earn you a Masters degree. PROPS! LIKED AND ALREADY SUBBED! What a video! History is such a goldmine for youtubers imo.

Nice that you made the full 1 video now

I love the video and for the most part you’re right but I believe teammates or lack of teammates should count for a small portion but great video 😊

Love this series

This list is amazing!! And I am just happy to see Kobe and Shaq get more than 1 MVP's which they both deserve.

I love your videos man and I have for a long while. Keep up the great work❤

I had a friend/mentor who used to say everyone has forgotten Moses Malone. great video I like analysis like this taking the popularity or voter fatigue out of the equation.

Bout time! Been waiting forever for the 60s

Really interesting and in-depth watch! For the eras in which we have better defensive stats like Defensive Plus/Minus, I'd much rather look at those than who got selected, often erroneously, to all-defensive teams, which are just as narrative-driven as MVP awards. It's one thing for the eras where we just don't have the advanced stats to analyze this stuff, but once those numbers are available, if you're going to rate MVP candidates based on their numbers, it ought to go both ways. I think this only really mattered for you rating Kobe over Dirk, Duncan or Garnett in the mid-2000s. Kobe's defense actually looks worse than Dirk's in 2007 by just about every metric (DBPM, DWS). Garnett, unsurprisingly, was even better. Looking at the overall numbers, I'd say Nash's MVPs should have gone to Garnett or Duncan in 2005 and Dirk in 2006, and Dirk kept his MVP in 2007.

I just shake my head when I’m reminded that Nash has 2 MVPs and Shaq and Kobe combined for 2 in their careers. Crazy.

Thanks for this 🙏

I know this video took a while so I had to leave a like for the amazing quality and research

Your criteria seems to be who had the best stats. While stats are important, the object of the game is to win championships. There was a reason that the players voted for Russell. He was the catalyst that led to titles. He took a no-name college program to two NCAA championships. Won an Olympic gold medal. On becoming a pro, he immediately elevated his team to championship status. The only time the Celtics lost in the finals was when Russell was injured. Any team in the league would have gladly swapped their MVP for him. That includes Chamberlain and Robertson. I was lucky enough to see all three of them play. I agree that they were more talented, but they were not valuable.

Excellent list! Great video as always. I really enjoyed it!🙂

Not that my opinion matters a bit, but there are few youtube vids that I pretty much agree with. If one was gonna disagree, they really should have been there, or put in the work to have valid input. I was a pretty big Cavs fan from the early 70s to the mid 90s and even though I was NO Bulls/MJ supporter, I remember thinking how it was annual folly to give the MVP to anyone but MJ. He was like an alien in his impossible abilities. Glad to see Moses recognized too. He had a few year stretch that he rivaled anyone, ever, on impact. Just an outstanding job young man!

Dude I love your channel! I grew up watching 90s basketball. I caught the 2nd 3peat from that great bulls dynasty but I love all the playoff caliber teams from that Era. Karl Malone went to school near my hometown so my dad was a big Jazz fan. He also ran a hoops camp near us that my brother was able to attend when he was on the JV team (he'd 10 yrs older than me) . Can we talk about how good/underated prime/Pacers Mark Jackson was, though??

Honestly Kobe's 02-03 season is underrated it's arguably better than his 05-06 he was more efficient & was a better defender

YAY 1 hour video!!

I definitely appreciate this video! You did an amazing job digging into NBA history and stats to try to assess who should've actually been the MVPs throughout the years. However, I think that you were conflating "Most Valuable" with "Most Talented" based on mostly non-advanced stats (which are important, don't get me wrong). I think that what makes a player valuable is how they contribute to team success because the NBA is an association of basketball **TEAMS**, which is why I think that Win Shares, which you included in only small portions of your video, should have been one of the primary stats you assessed, especially when spread across 48 minutes (WS/48 on Basketball Reference). This particular stat makes it easier to compare players across eras to assess their performance within the set of regulations they were subjected to. The next things I considered had to do with the MVP candidates' team success: -Did their team qualify for the playoffs? -Did their team win at least 55% percent of the games in that season (at least 45/82 games in an 82-game season)? -How present was the candidate throughout the season (played 75% of games or 62/82 games in an 82-game season)? Then, I would look at individual non-advanced stats. With all that being said, here are some of my hot-takes: -Jordan is clearly the GOAT of the NBA -Kobe should not have won any MVPs -Steve Nash should not have won any MVPs, and his teammate Amar'e Stoudemire should've had stronger MVP consideration than Nash during those years -Shaq was robbed of the MVP award the Iverson won I really hope that a similar approach to the one I took gets adopted soon because the bias (*cough* Perkins *cough*) in the MVP voting is frustrating to see. The more influential objective, highly representative stats can be in the MVP decision, the better in my opinion. S/O: Basketball Reference & Reddit for having these stats available and for allowing a forum to discuss such aspects of the game respectively.

Great work!!! Great idea !!

@jonnyarnett at the 1:15:37 mark, with the master list displayed, you still have Iverson with the MVP in 2001 as new, but you gave it to Shaq when expalining. Great vid though, as usual…

I have tremendous respect for Bill Russel. He's the greatest winner in team sports and is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, defenders of all time. Not to mention a civil rights icon. But he didn't deserve his MVPs. It's a classic case of team success over individual talent, which I never understood. I don't understand people like Charles Barkley who insist the award should be given to the best player on the best team. Where in the world does it say that?! You can't just make up rules for a set-in-stone and well-defined criteria: "Most Valuable Player"; not "MVP on the best team" or "Most Valuable Nerrative" etc. How is it the player's achievement or fault that he is on a tremendous or trashy team? Kobe post-Shaq, was clearly the best player in the NBA but wasn't even top 5 in MVP voting because of people who like to play board games with made-up roles. When Bill Russel is eclipsed in EVERY statistical category by multiple people like Wilt, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Walt Bellamy, etc., you start to question the award. Since blocks and steals weren't recorded until the 73-74 season, and analytics and advanced metrics weren't reliably recorded until the late 70s, it's the only thing to go by. Even his 1958 MVP should have gone to someone like Bob Pettit, or the highly underrated and forgotten George Yardley, who had his most outstanding season by far. Even if you consider Bill's defense and rebounding, it's still not enough; it would be the equivalent of giving Dennis Rodman the MVP.

Say word Jerry West was that nice🥶🥶. Sometimes I wish I was old enough to watch basketball trailblazers play like West, Baylor, The Iceman, Jordan (in the 80s-90s), Big O and all that.

Fantastic video.

To be honest, I think Julius Erving should have kept his MVP in 1981 because he had more of an all-around season than KAJ with 2 steals and blocks a game that year and he only lost the All-Defensive nod to two of his teammates, and he comparable WS and WS per 48 minutes to KAJ that year even if I ignore their record.

Arnett's MVP awards would go to the players with the highest individual stats, period. Problem is that what players do to help their teams win games often can't be measured in statistics, which is why I can't take Arnett seriously.

I don't usually last thru an hour and 15 minutes of trivia, but this video started great and got better

9 mvps in 11 years for Kareem would’ve been nuts but sounds accurate ! Good videos

I always thought offensive player of the year and MVP should be 2 different things

Loved watching this again as one big video. Respect for the time and effort that went in to this video. Regarding the “Real MVP” list at the end of the video, you accidentally put Iverson as the winner in 01’ when you named Shaq as the new winner. 🤓👍

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It really helped me put into perspective how great the greats were.

Thank you bro 🙌🏼

I went through and calculated the per 75 stats for the players based on pace for the team of those players and the minutes those players played. Keep in mind, as Jonny mentioned, rebounds were more even per 75 because of the lower fg% and fewer free throws. The inverse is true of assist - they were low across the league on a per 75 because of many missed shots. % are true shooting % 1960 WiltC: 21.9pts 15.7reb 1.3ast 49.3% BRuss: 11.3pts 14.9reb 2.3ast 49.6% Pettit: 19.5pts 12.7reb 2.7ast 51.0% Baylor: 21.4pts 11.9reb 2.5ast 48.9% 1961 WiltC: 21.9pts 15.5reb 1.1ast 51.9% BRuss: 10.2pts 14.5reb 2.1ast 45.4% Pettit: 19.5pts 14.2reb 2.4ast 51.1% Baylor: 23.4pts 13.3reb 3.4ast 49.8% 1962 WiltC: 28.5pts 14.6reb 1.4ast 53.6% Russ: 11.5pts 14.4reb 2.7ast 48.9% Pettit: 21.3pts 12.8reb 2.5ast 52.5% Baylor: 25.2pts 12.2reb 3.0ast 49.2%TS Oscar: 20.0pts 8.1reb 7.4ast 55.4% 1963: WiltC: 27.5pts 14.9reb 2.1ast 55% Russ: 10.6pts 14.9reb 2.8ast 46.4% Pettit: 22.6pts 12reb 2.5ast 52.5% Baylor: 24.7pts 10.4reb 3.5ast 51.9% Oscar: 19.5pts 7.2reb 6.5at 58.8% West: 21.1pts 5.4reb 4.4ast 52.5% 1964: WiltC: 25.0pts 15.1reb 3.4ast 53.7% Russ: 9.7pts 15.9reb 3.0ast 46.1% Petti: 20.9pts 11.7reb 2.4ast 53.5% Baylor: 20.2pts 9.5reb 3.5ast 48.7% Oscar: 21.6pts 6.8reb 7.6ast 57.6% West: 22.9pts 4.8reb 4.5ast 56.2% 1965: WiltC: 23.1pts 15.3reb 2.3ast 51.3% Russ: 9.2pts 15.8reb 3.5ast 47.2% Pettit: 20.0pts 11.0reb 2.3ast 51% Baylor: 20.7pts 9.8reb 2.9ast 46.3% Oscar: 20.7pts 6.1reb 7.8ast 56.1% West: 23.7pts 4.6reb 3.7ast 57.2% 1966: WiltC: 20.8pts 15.2reb 3.2ast 54.7% Russ: 8.8pts 15.5reb 3.3ast 44.8% Baylor 16.2pts 9.4reb 3.3ast 45.6% Oscar: 20.3pts 5.0reb 7.2ast 56.3% West: 22.8pts 5.2reb 4.5ast 57.3% 1967: WiltC: 15.5pts 15.6reb 5.0ast 63.7% Russ: 9.7pts 15.3reb 4.2ast 50% Baylor: 20.1pts 9.7reb 2.3ast 49.1% Oscar: 21.1pts 4.3reb 7.4ast 58.5% West: 20.7pts 4.3reb 4.9ast 55.9% 1968: WiltC: 15.0pts 14.7reb 5.0ast 55.7% Russ: 9.8pts 14.6reb 3.6ast 46.1% Baylor: 20.2pts 9.5reb 3.6ast 50.5% Oscar: 21.1pts 4.3reb 7.2ast 58.8% West: 21.3pts 4.7reb 4.9ast 59.0% 1969: WiltC: 14.5pts 14.9reb 3.2ast 56.4% Russ: 7.1pts 13.8reb 3.5ast 46.7% Baylor: 19.7pts 8.4reb 4.3ast 50.0% Oscar: 17.9pts 4.6reb 7.1ast 57.9% West: 21.1pts 3.5reb 5.6ast 55.7% Unseld: 11.3pts 14.9reb 2.1ast 51.5% Reed: 17.8pts 12.3reb 1.9ast 56.2% 1970: WiltC: 20.5pts 13.8reb 3.1ast 55.4% Baylor: 18.5pts 8.0reb 4.2ast 53.7% Oscar: 18.5pts 4.5reb 5.9ast 57.7% West: 23.5pts 3.5reb 5.6ast 57.2% Reed: 17.9pts 11.5reb 1.7ast 55.2% Kareem: 20.8pts 10.5reb 3.0ast 55.2%

As always, you do a great job of looking at the entire picture. Team success is certainly part of the equation. The MVP should be playing in meaningful games, but historically, team record has been weighted too heavily when determining the winner of the award.

hey excellent video❤, thanks for doing it. is there any chance you can post the new ranking of mvp by player by your list? i would love to compare it to the real one, thanks!

Finally bro nice video

Hi Jonny love your videos

Bill Russell earned many of those MVPs, and was the best player of most of that era. It's not all about stats. It's about value. Every other team owner would trade Wilt or Elgin or Oscar for Russell without a second thought, but Russell is literally untradeable.

Malou Rocha: My choice because he was excellent & underrated!

Great video

I was today years old when I learned that Bob Macadoo was a BEAST, not just a dude with a dope name.

Such an insightful look into each MVP, I gotta agree with almost every selection except Anthony Davis and Westbrook, a little to outlandish for me and I’d side with Durant, LeBron or Harden instead, I love the mention of prime Chris Paul too! However the 5’9 Isiah Thomas definitely deserved his name to be mentioned for 2018, otherwise, great video Jonny!

Good content .

Damon Gipson: My pic for GOAT in the 60s is Elgin Baylor! My choice because he was excellent & underrated!

Great stuff! And now the same for the DPOY (especially for the time where the award doesnt exist), please! ;)

Wilt Chamberlain: 60, 61, 62, 63, 67, 68 (6) Oscar Robertson: 64, 65 (2) Jerry West: 66, 70 (2) Willis Reed: 69 (1) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 71, 72, 73, 74, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81 (9) Bob McAdoo: 75 (1) Moses Malone: 79, 82, 83 (3) Magic Johnson: 84 (1) Larry Bird: 85, 86 (2) Michael Jordan: 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 96 (8) Hakeem Olajuwon: 94 (1) David Robinson: 95 (1) Karl Malone: 97, 98 (2) Shaquille O'Neal: 99, 00, 01 (3) Tim Duncan: 02 (1) Kobe Bryant: 03, 06, 07 (3) Kevin Garnett: 04, 05 (2) Chris Paul: 08 (1) LeBron James: 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18 (6) Kevin Durant: 14 (1) Anthony Davis: 15 (1) Stephen Curry: 16 (1) Russell Westbrook: 17 (1) Giannis Antetokounmpo: 19, 20 (2) Nikola Jokic: 21, 22 (2)

This was Dope

MJ is incredible. My goodness.

Jordan deserves Malone's 1st MVP & he deserves to keep his 98 MVP, so he passes Kareem with 10. Also, I had no idea Kareem was a stud on defense at any time in his career. The sports journalists, tv sports media & NBA historians have done him a great injustice. Also, I was hoping Bernard King would pick one up.

People don't really realize how fast Jordan was unless you watched him really play. He was faster than anybody. Even today Jordan was faster in game than anything 2k could duplicate. It can't be done!

What a great concept for a video. Must... do... NFL... ASAP... PLEASE.

Tracy mcgrady was the best player in 02-03, led the league in PPG, PER, WS/48, BPM, and VoRP

I understand the desire to take away the narrative and team sucess, but I do think winning should somewhat play a role in who the best player is. It's the point of basketball and superstars in basketball have more individual influence on a team more than any other sport

You should also do a comparison of the ABA MVP’s of the same years.

Most Valuable Player is not the same thing as Best Individual. Ignoring team success ignores two things: 1) Basketball is a team sport, not an individual sport. 2) The object is to win games and championships. The Celtics had won nothing before Russell arrived and won nothing after he left (until Cowens arrived). In the 13 years Russell was there, the Celtics won 11 championships. They won those championships because Russell - was so valuable.

very well done both thoughtful and entertaining

It’s insane watching this video that Elgin Baylor despite his numbers still wouldn’t have won a mvp with this criteria and that Shaq and Kobe never won more 1. Also, Shaq never averaging more 30 in a season is mind boggling