NBA Players Major Awards: When it comes to the most accomplished teams and individuals in the NBA, there has been a definite change in power over the past ten years. NBA champions have been pursued by a few dominating teams and individuals, and members of these teams have won the majority of the league’s major honours. These are the honours to which I’m referring: championships, MVPs of the Finals, MVPs, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Rookie of the Year, MVP of the All-Star Game, and Most Improved Player honours.
Some NBA players have risen to the top and won more major awards than any other player in the previous 10 seasons, making them some of the most decorated in league history. We are here to talk about it today. These NBA players are unquestionably the most important to the success of their club and have taken them to heights that other NBA players have never reached or will never reach to major awards.
We must acknowledge NBA players who have had three major awards victories over the past ten seasons but are still on the outside looking in before we start our formal countdown of these top players. These are what they are:
NBA players who have won three major awards in the past ten years
- Russell Westbrook – 3 (1x MVP, 2x All-Star Game MVP)
- Rudy Gobert – 3 (3x Defensive Player Of The Year)
- Lou Williams – 3 (3x Sixth Man Of The Year)
- Danny Green – 3 (3x NBA Champion)
- Kevon Looney – 3 (3x NBA Champion)
- JaVale McGee – 3 (3x NBA Champion)
- Shaun Livingston – 3 (3x NBA Champion)
- Patrick McCaw – 3 (3x NBA Champion)
As you can see, a number of players have made their way onto this list by earning three significant honours since the 2013–14 season. Russell Westbrook, a previous MVP and two-time All-Star Game MVP, will be our first example. When he averaged a triple-double for the entire 2016–17 season, he created history, becoming the first player to do it since Oscar Robertson in 1962. He added the MVP honour to the two consecutive All-Star Game MVP awards he received in 2015 and 2016 while playing with the Thunder.
There are also two players that have dominated one prize throughout the last ten seasons. With the Utah Jazz, Rudy Gobert was the NBA’s top inside defender from 2018 to 2021. He won Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2018, 2019, and 2021 thanks to his regular production of at least 2.0 blocks and more than 10.0 rebounds per game. When it came to being the best bench player in the NBA, Lou Williams exhibited the same sort of domination. Williams, who mostly played as a reserve, averaged 18.2 points, 3.6 assists, and 1.0 steals a game from 2015 to 2019. This resulted in victories for Sixth Man of the Year in 2015, 2018, and 2019.
The other NBA Players who have taken home three major awards in the previous ten years have done so while participating in three separate championship squads. Danny Green stands out as having won three championships with three different teams. He achieved success with the Spurs in 2014, the Raptors in 2019, and the Lakers in 2020. Over the past ten seasons, the Warriors have also won three titles with Shaun Livingston and Kevon Looney apiece. In addition to winning two championships with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, Patrick McCaw and JaVale McGee both added three more titles—McCaw with the Raptors in 2019 and McGee with the Lakers in 2020.
NBA Players With the Most Major Awards
It’s time to discuss the elite of the elite and the players who have won four or more awards since 2013–14 after covering the NBA players who performed well enough to win three major awards.
1. Stephen Curry – 8 Major Awards
No NBA player has been more successful personally over the past ten seasons than Stephen Curry. He has not only claimed the title of greatest shooter ever, but he has also entered the discussion as the best point guard in NBA history. All of this began in 2015 when Curry earned his first MVP award with game averages of 23.8 points, 7.7 assists, and 2.0 steals while shooting 44.3% from three-point range. Curry will later that year assist the Warriors in defeating the Cavaliers to earn their first NBA championship since 1975.
Curry set a record the following year when he became the NBA’s first unanimous MVP after helping his team to a league-high 73 victories. With a scoring average of 30.1 points per game with shooting splits of 50/40/90, Curry won the scoring championship. He also added 5.4 rebounds, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game. Curry and the Warriors got even after losing the NBA Finals that year, winning back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018.
Curry’s NBA career’s most significant season would be in 2022. In addition to breaking Ray Allen’s record for three-pointers made, he also exorcised the figurative monkey off his back. Curry brought the Warriors back to the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics when most had given up on them and declared the dynasty over. Curry would put on a display in the Finals as the Warriors prevailed in six games to win their fourth championship in eight years. The more significant. Curry ultimately received the MVP award for the Finals after averaging 31.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 48.2% from the field and 43.7% from beyond the arc.
You might also be interested in reading this: The Top Warriors Players From 2011 Until 2023
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo – 7 Major Awards
Giannis Antetokounmpo has transformed over the past ten years from a scrawny, middle-of-the-pack draught choice to one of the most dominant players in the NBA right now. After three seasons of subpar play, Giannis won the Most Improved Player award in 2016–17 as one of the NBA’s elite two–way players, which marked the beginning of his rise to the top of this list. With a game average of 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.5 blocks in 2019, Giannis would add an MVP trophy to his collection.
In 2020, Giannis would find a way to outperform his performance from 2019. The Bucks completed 56-17 in a COVID-19-shortened season, and Antetokounmpo took both the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards for his performance. He averaged 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game. Despite being the best player in the world, Giannis saved his best performances for 2021.
NBA players experienced a strange season in 2020–21 as they suddenly transitioned from the Orlando Bubble to a new one. Giannis was sick of losing in the first two rounds of the playoffs, even though he would have another MVP-caliber season. With a run to the NBA Finals to face the Phoenix Suns, he would put an end to that. Giannis helped the Bucks win four straight games after trailing 2-0 in the Finals. He did it by averaging 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game. He received the Finals MVP award and brought Milwaukee its first NBA title since 1971.
3. Kawhi Leonard – 7 Major Awards
One of the rare players on this list, Kawhi Leonard, earned his major honours with several teams. All of it started with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014, when he assisted them in reaching their second consecutive NBA Finals matchup against the Miami Heat. As he stopped LeBron James and destroyed Miami’s defence in Games 2-4 of the series, Leonard had the dual impact of a peak Michael Jordan. Averaging 17.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game, Leonard would earn MVP of the Finals.
Leonard won back-to-back awards for Defensive Player of the Year during the course of the following two seasons with the Spurs. Additionally, he had game averages of 1.0 block, 2.0 steals, and 7.0 rebounds. Following a deterioration in his relationship with the Spurs in 2018, Leonard was transferred to the Raptors prior to the 2018–19 season.
One of a player’s best single-season runs ever is what came next. With a 58-24 record, Leonard would guide the unaware Raptors into the NBA playoffs. As they advanced to their first NBA Finals in franchise history throughout the playoffs, Leonard put on a show with clutch shots and incredible defensive efforts. Leonard would lead Toronto to their lone NBA title in a six-game series against the Warriors and win Finals MVP with 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game.
4. Kevin Durant – 6 Major Awards
The 2013–14 season marked the beginning of Kevin Durant’s rise to the top of this list. Durant won his fourth scoring championship in a five-year span during that season with the Thunder, averaging 32.0 points per game on 50.3% shooting and 39.1% from three-point range. In order to win his first and only MVP title of his career, he also averaged 7.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.3 steals a game.
Durant would lead the Thunder in a surprising and treacherous transfer to the Golden State Warriors two seasons later. When he guided Golden State to back-to-back NBA titles in 2017 and 2018, Durant made them invincible. With 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game in a victory against the Cavaliers in 2017, he was named Finals MVP. In a rout of Cleveland in 2018, he would back it up with another championship and another Finals MVP while averaging 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per contest.
It was one of the greatest three-year runs we had ever seen from a single player and one club. If Durant is named the 2019 All-Star Game MVP, he will have amassed six significant awards in the previous ten years, which puts him in exclusive possession of fourth place on this list.
5. LeBron James – 5 Major Awards
As we have been used over the past 20 years, it is astonishing to see LeBron James not at the top of the list. The criteria were established for 2013–2014 to the present, which reduces James’ successes in terms of significant accolades, as we have already covered in our work, by half.
Despite having, for the most part, a subpar supporting cast of teammates, James has still been among the top players in the NBA. In the middle of a streak that would culminate with eight straight visits to the NBA Finals as an individual, he led the Cavaliers to their second consecutive NBA Finals in 2016. James and the Cavaliers would engineer a comeback from a 3-1 hole to defeat the 73-9 Warriors and earn their first championship in franchise history. With 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, and 2.6 steals per game, James would win MVP of the Finals. The NBA playoffs’ biggest upset had ever occurred there.
James transferred to the Los Angeles Lakers, his third team in his career, four years later. James and the Lakers travelled to Disney World in Orlando, Florida for the Bubble playoffs after the COVID-19 outbreak forced a suspension of the regular season. James would then defeat his old team, the Miami Heat, and lead the Lakers to their 17th global title. With 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game on 59.1% field goal shooting, James won his fourth Finals MVP title in his career.
6. Draymond Green – 5 Major Awards
No player has had a bigger influence on the Golden State Warriors since 2015 than Draymond Green, aside from Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Due to Green’s ability to analyse defences, Golden State was able to build plays for its scorers, enabling them to become the offensive force they are today. His high level of defensive play as a versatile defender who can credibly guard positions 1 through 5 on the floor while also coaching his teammates to their places and responsibilities gives him the ability to read defences.
Green’s statistics have frequently been discussed, but everyone who regularly follows the Warriors understands exactly how important he is to their success. Green has helped them win four championships in six appearances in the NBA Finals by averaging 11.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game.
Green reached the pinnacle of his career as the top defender in the NBA during the 2017 season when the Warriors added Kevin Durant to their offensive strategy. With 2.0 steals per game, Green would earn his first and only career steals championship. He also averaged 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. As the Warriors won 67 games and the NBA title, Green would be crowned Defensive Player of the Year.
7. Andre Iguodala – 5 Major Awards
Andre Iguodala was an All-Star and defensive stalwart with the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets before joining the Warriors in 2013–14. As soon as he got to Golden State, he agreed to take on a smaller role for the team’s sake, which turned out to be the best possible outcome for them. Iguodala’s 2015 effort, which helped the Warriors win their first NBA championship since 1975, is undoubtedly one to remember.
In order to thwart LeBron James’ hopes of winning a championship with the Cavaliers, at least for that season, Iguodala was given the duty of facing him in the 2015 Finals. Iguodala won Finals MVP for his defensive performance, averaging 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He also won the title. Even though his advanced age would ultimately catch up to him, he continued to be a valuable and important player off the bench for Golden State during their championship campaigns in 2017, 2018, and 2022.
8. Nikola Jokic – 4 Major Awards
We have witnessed Denver Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic totally redefine the NBA’s definition of a dominant centre over the course of the past five seasons. The age of teams slamming the ball into the paint to their big men is over, ushering in a new era of talent from centres that we haven’t seen. Jpokic has been in the vanguard of this, as proven by the trophies that keep coming his way. He is one of the best passers, playmakers, and scorers in his position.
Each of the years 2021 and 2022 saw Nikola Jokic win the league MVP title. With averages of 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game, he helped the Nuggets reach the playoffs in 2021 despite losing teammate Jamal Murray to a knee injury. When Michael Porter Jr. was hurt and forced to miss the 2022 season, Murray was already out of the starting lineup. Jokic responded with a second MVP year, leading Denver to 48 victories and another berth in the playoffs with averages of 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game.
Jokic very likely ought to have won the MVP award for a third straight season in 2022–23. He would miss out on that honour, but he would come out on top. Jokic would totally destroy any opponent who stood in his way as he led the Nuggets to their first title in team history. Jokic won the Finals MVP award with 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game on 58.3% shooting in a five-game series victory over the Heat.
9. Klay Thompson – 4 Major Awards
Klay Thompson has been one of the Golden State Warriors’ four championship victories since 2015. Thompson has contributed significantly to the Warriors’ four NBA championships with his outstanding three-point shooting and two-way defence. When Thompson had to step up for Golden State in crucial situations when teammates Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant were the focus, he did so time and time again.
In the 2015 playoffs, Thompson scored 18.6 points per contest on 44.6% shooting from the field and 39.0% from three-point range, assisting the Warriors in winning their first title. When Kevin Durant moved to town, Thompson improved even more after a shocking loss in the 2016 Finals. Over the duration of the Warriors’ back-to-back championship runs in 2017 and 2018, Thompson averaged 17.6 points and 4.0 rebounds per game on 43.7% shooting from the field and 41.1% shooting from three.
Thompson suffered a horrific ACL tear in the 2019 Finals, which denied him a full season of competition as the Warriors battled for their fourth championship. After experiencing a setback in his rehabilitation, he wouldn’t return to the court until almost halfway through the 2021–22 campaign. With a fourth NBA title, Thompson would cap off his comeback as the Warriors advanced in the playoffs. For his fourth championship in eight seasons, he scored 19.0 points per game while shooting 42.9% overall and 38.5% from three-point range.
These are the NBA Players With the Most Major Awards. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
