There were years when the NBA did not have the awards we know today. For those years, I had to create my own winners. Here are those award recipients.

• Finals MVP before 1969
• All-Defense before 1969 in the NBA, Before 1973 in the ABA
• Defensive Player of the Year before 1983
• And we had to account for the fact that the ABA existed from 1967 and 1976 and had some different rules and their own separate awards.
• *Late Addition* I had to list the “MVP” of the losing Finals teams from 1977-present for two categories I created.
• *Later Addition* The MVP wasn’t awarded until 1956 officially, so I had to create the MVP for 1947-1955.

For the Finals MVP, the work was done for me thankfully.

Hit the link below for the full breakdown but here is the list:

Source: The Sports Daily

Finals MVP before 1969

Season Player Team Odds%
1967-68 John Havlicek BOS 72.0
1966-67 Hal Greer PHI 32.1
1965-66 Bill Russell BOS 67.8
1964-65 Bill Russell BOS 59.8
1963-64 Sam Jones BOS 67.3
1962-63 Bill Russell BOS 55.2
1961-62 Bill Russell BOS 77.3
1960-61 Bob Cousy BOS 66.3
1959-60 Bill Russell BOS 55.0
1958-59 Tom Heinsohn BOS 43.3
1957-58 Bob Pettit STL 55.6
1956-57 Bob Cousy BOS 57.4
1955-56 Paul Arizin PHW 80.0
1954-55 Dolph Schayes SYR 90.5
1953-54 George Mikan MNL 93.8
1952-53 George Mikan MNL 49.8
1951-52 George Mikan MNL 77.2
1950-51 Arnie Risen ROC 41.5
1949-50 George Mikan MNL 99.1
1948-49 George Mikan MNL 97.6
1947-48 Connie Simmons BLB 39.6***
1946-47 Joe Fulks PHW 98.0

***I changed this to Joe Fulks. Per the creator of the formula:

If we tweak the coefficient for winning the title so that the model thinks West was the deserving winner in ’69, like it happened in reality, do any other “losers” win the MVP? (Note: the model has low odds for West winning despite his great series because it was a rare occurrence that only happened once.) The only losing players with the best odds are West, of course, Joe Fulks in 1948 (he nearly won without the tweak), and LeBron James in 2014. 

– Justin Willard

This felt appropriate because his odds of winning were actually higher than West’s before the tweak. The creator mentions Lebron but his odds were 10% lower than West and 13% lower than Fulkes.

For the defensive awards, I used Defensive Win Shares to determine who made the cut. I tried to use 2 guards for each team (since bigs often dominated defensive win shares) but there were a few years where I let a SF stand in for a guard because the guards were too low.

ABA All-Defense Teams*

Year	League	Players
1972	ABA	Artis Gilmore	Gerald Govan	Julius Erving	Dan Issel	Louie Dampier
1971	ABA	Gerald Govan	Zelmo Beaty	Mel Daniels	Red Robbins	Jimmy Jones
1970	ABA	Spencer Haywood	Gerald Govan	Red Robbins	Larry Jones	Jeffrey Congdon
1969	ABA	Trooper Washington	Mel Daniels	Red Robbins	Jimmy Jones	Louie Dampier
1968	ABA	Mel Daniels	Les Hunter	Donnie Freeman	Sam Smith	Larry Jones

*There is only one team because there is only one team for 1973 through 1976 and we had enough data.

NBA All-Defense Teams

Year	TEam	Players
1968	1st Team	Wilt Chamberlain	Bill Russell	John Havlicek	Bailey Howell	Hal Greer
	2nd Team	Nate Thurmond	Clyde Lee	Luke Jackson	Lenny Wilkens	Jeff Mullins
1967	1st Team	Bill Russell	Wilt Chamberlain	Guy Rodgers	Rick Barry	K.C. Jones
	2nd Team	Nate Thurmond	Dave DeBusschere	John Havlicek	Jerry Sloan	Dave Bing
1966	1st Team	Bill Russell	Wilt Chamberlain	K.C. Jones	Guy Rodgers	John Havlicek
	2nd Team	Hal Greer	Nate Thurmond	Sam Jones	Dave DeBusschere	Tom Sanders
1965	1st Team	Bill Russell	K.C. Jones	Wilt Chamberlain	Sam Jones	Tom Sanders
	2nd Team	Nate Thurmond	John Havlicek	Tom Heinsohn	Zelmo Beaty	Guy Rodgers
1964	1st Team	Bill Russell	Wilt Chamberlain	K.C. Jones	John Havlicek	Sam Jones
	2nd Team	Tom Sanders	Tom Heinsohn	Guy Rodgers	Bob Pettit	Oscar Robertson
1963	1st Team	Bill Russell	Bob Pettit	Elgin Baylor	Bob Cousy	Sam Jones
	2nd Team	Wilt Chamberlain	John Havlicek	Tom Sanders	K.C. Jones	Lenny Wilkens
1962	1st Team	Bill Russell	Wilt Chamberlain	Bob Cousy	Tom Heinsohn	Sam Jones
	2nd Team	Tom Sanders	Red Kerr	K.C. Jones	Hal Greer	Frank Ramsey
1961	1st Team	Bill Russell	Wilt Chamberlain	Bob Pettit	Bob Cousy	Elgin Baylor
	2nd Team	Tom Heinsohn	Cliff Hagan	Sam Jones	Guy Rodgers	Frank Ramsey
1960	1st Team	Bill Russell	Wilt Chamberlain	Bob Cousy	Tom Gola	Tom Heinsohn
	2nd Team	Guy Rodgers	Elgin Baylor	Paul Arizin	Frank Ramsey	Dolph Schayes
1959	1st Team	Bill Russell	Bob Cousy	Tom Heinsohn	Tom Gola	Red Kerr
	2nd Team	Dolph Schayes	Bob Pettit	Frank Ramsey	Walter Dukes	Dick McGuire
1958	1st Team	Bill Russell	Maurice Stokes	Bob Cousy	Tom Heinsohn	Frank Ramsey
	2nd Team	Dolph Schayes	Clyde Lovellette	Bob Pettit	Tom Gola	Larry Costello
1957	1st Team	Maurice Stokes	Bob Cousy	Bill Russell	Tom Heinsohn	Jim Loscutoff
	2nd Team	Dolph Schayes	Bill Sharman	Clyde Lovellette	Bob Pettit	Jack Twyman
1956	1st Team	Maurice Stokes	Dolph Schayes	Bob Pettit	George King	Jack Twyman
	2nd Team	Jack Coleman	Red Kerr	Chuck Share	Ed Fleming	Earl Lloyd
1955	1st Team	Dolph Schayes	Bob Pettit	Paul Seymour	Neil Johnston	Earl Lloyd
	2nd Team	Red Rocha	Clyde Lovellette	Vern Mikkelsen	George King	Slater Martin
1954	1st Team	George Mikan	Dolph Schayes	Arnie Risen	Jim Pollard	Paul Seymour
	2nd Team	Jack Coleman	Vern Mikkelsen	Earl Lloyd	Wally Osterkorn	Bobby Wanzer
1953	1st Team	George Mikan	Mel Hutchins	Dolph Schayes	Jim Pollard	George King
	2nd Team	Vern Mikkelsen	Nat Clifton	Harry Gallatin	Leo Barnhorst	Slater Martin
1952	1st Team	George Mikan	Vern Mikkelsen	Jim Pollard	Slater Martin	Dolph Schayes
	2nd Team	Joe Graboski	Leo Barnhorst	Larry Foust	Bob Harrison	Red Rocha
1951	1st Team	George Mikan	Vern Mikkelsen	Andy Phillip	Paul Arizin	Joe Fulks
	2nd Team	Jim Pollard	George Senesky	Dolph Schayes	Larry Foust	Fred Schaus
1950	1st Team	George Mikan	Frankie Brian	Milo Komenich	Charlie Black	Bill Closs
	2nd Team	Andy Phillip	Howie Schultz	Ralph Johnson	Fred Schaus	Jim Pollard
1949	1st Team	Andy Phillip	Max Zaslofsky	Joe Fulks	Gene Vance	George Mikan
	2nd Team	Ed Sadowski	Jim Seminoff	Kleggie Hermsen	Jack Smiley	Blackie Towery
1948	1st Team	Howie Dallmar	Joe Fulks	Red Rocha	Fred Scolari	Bob Feerick
	2nd Team	John Logan	Bones McKinney	Jerry Fleishman	Chick Halbert	George Senesky
1947	1st Team	Stan Miasek	John Logan	Bones McKinney	John Mahnken	Fred Scolari
	2nd Team	Bob Feerick	Ariel Maughan	John Barr	Irv Torgoff	Bob Doll

When it came to Defensive Player of the Year, remember that from 1969 through 1982 the All-Defense team existed, they just didn’t point out who stood out above the rest. For this I used the Defensive Win-Shares leader as well. I started from the top and I stopped when there was a 0.5 point gap. In years where multiple players are listed, they split the award. For example, in 1981 Larry Bird and Julius Erving received credit for half a DPOY award.

NBA Defensive Player of the year before 1983

League	Year	Player
NBA	1982	Jack Sikma
NBA	1981	Larry Bird*	Julius Erving*
NBA	1980	Larry Bird*	Caldwell Jones*	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Jack Sikma*	Julius Erving*	Dan Roundfield
NBA	1979	Jack Sikma*	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Robert Parish*
NBA	1978	Truck Robinson*	Marvin Webster*	Dave Cowens	Elvin Hayes	Bill Walton*
NBA	1977	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Artis Gilmore*	Elvin Hayes*	Bobby Jones
NBA	1976	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
NBA	1975	Elvin Hayes
NBA	1974	Elvin Hayes	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
NBA	1973	Dave Cowens*
NBA	1972	Wilt Chamberlain
NBA	1971	Elvin Hayes*	Walt Frazier
NBA	1970	Willis Reed
NBA	1969	Bill Russell
NBA	1968	Wilt Chamberlain
NBA	1967	Bill Russell
NBA	1966	Bill Russell
NBA	1965	Bill Russell
NBA	1964	Bill Russell
NBA	1963	Bill Russell
NBA	1962	Bill Russell
NBA	1961	Bill Russell
NBA	1960	Bill Russell
NBA	1959	Bill Russell
NBA	1958	Bill Russell
NBA	1957	Maurice Stokes
NBA	1956	Maurice Stokes
NBA	1955	Dolph Schayes
NBA	1954	George Mikan	Dolph Schayes
NBA	1953	George Mikan
NBA	1952	George Mikan
NBA	1951	George Mikan
NBA	1950	George Mikan	Frankie Brian
BAA	1949	Andy Phillip
BAA	1948	Howie Dallmar
BAA	1947	Stan Miasek	John Logan

*This signifies that the player was not named to an All-Defense team that year. After consulting a few people and realizing how accurate DWS was at picking winners, I decided to leave the awards as they were rather than awarding it to the first guy on the win shares list who was also on the All-Defense team from 1969-1982.

ABA Defensive Player of the Year

League	Year	Player
ABA	1976	Julius Erving	Artis Gilmore
ABA	1975	Artis Gilmore
ABA	1974	Artis Gilmore
ABA	1973	Artis Gilmore
ABA	1972	Artis Gilmore	Gerald Govan
ABA	1971	Gerald Govan
ABA	1970	Spencer Haywood
ABA	1969	Trooper Washington
ABA	1968	Mel Daniels

Total Defensive Player of the Year Awards by player

Player name	Total Awards
Bill Russell	11
Artis Gilmore	4.25
George Mikan	4
Elvin Hayes	2.45
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	2.25
Maurice Stokes	2
Wilt Chamberlain	2
Dolph Schayes	1.5
Gerald Govan	1.5
Jack Sikma	1.5
Dave Cowens	1.2
Julius Erving	1.16
Andy Phillip	1
Howie Dallmar	1
Mel Daniels	1
Spencer Haywood	1
Trooper Washington	1
Willis Reed	1
Larry Bird	0.66
Frankie Brian	0.5
John Logan	0.5
Stan Miasek	0.5
Walt Frazier	0.5
Robert Parish	0.33
Bobby Jones	0.25
Bill Walton	0.2
Marvin Webster	0.2
Truck Robinson	0.2
Caldwell Jones	0.16
Dan Roundfield	0.16

Note that this last chart only includes DPOY awards added by my formula. This number was added to any the player was actually awarded after the award was created in 1983.

Also note that, since 1983, no player has won more than 4 DPOY awards. Bill Russell was a PROBLEM. It’s a shame we don’t have block numbers for he and Wilt but this will suffice.

*LATE ADDITION*

These last two charts shows the Game score leader for the Finals runner up from 1977-Present. If a player was within .5 I split the points.

Year	TEam	Players
Year	Team	Player
1984	Lakers	Magic Johnson
1985	Celtics	Kevin McHale
1986	Rockets	Hakeem Olajuwon
1987	Celtics	Larry Bird	Dennis Johnson
1988	Pistons	Isiah Thomas	Adrian Dantley
1989	Lakers	James Worthy
1990	Blazers	Clyde Drexler
1991	Lakers	Magic Johnson
1992	Blazers	Clyde Drexler
1993	Suns	Charles Barkley
1994	Knicks	Derek Harper
1995	Magic	Shaquille O’Neal
1996	Sonics	Shawn Kemp
1997	Jazz	Karl Malone
1998	Jazz	Karl Malone
1999	Knicks	Latrell Sprewell
2000	Pacers	Reggie Miller
2001	76ers	Allen Iverson
2002	Nets	Jason Kidd
2003	Nets	Jason Kidd
2004	Lakers	Shaquille O’Neal
2005	Pistons	Chauncey Billups
2006	Mavericks	Dirk Nowitzki
2007	Cavaliers	Lebron James
2008	Lakers	Kobe Bryant
2009	Magic	Dwight Howard
2010	Celtics	Kevin Garnett	Rajon Rondo
2011	Heat	Dwyane Wade
2012	Thunder	Kevin Durant
2013	Spurs	Tim Duncan
2014	Heat	Lebron James
2015	Cavaliers	Lebron James
2016	Warriors	Draymond Green
2017	Cavaliers	Lebron James
2018	Cavaliers	Lebron James
2019	Warriors	Steph Curry
2020	Heat	Jimmy Butler
2021	Suns	Chris Paul	Devin Booker

Year	TEam	Players
1977	76ers	Julius Erving
1978	Sonics	Marvin Webster	Gus Williams
1979	Bullets	Elvin Hayes	Bob Dandridge
1980	76ers	Julius Erving
1981	Rockets	Moses Malone
1982	76ers	Julius Erving
1983	Lakers	Kareem Abdul Jabbar

These two were split because the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984, and I included 1977-1983 because this was after the NBA-ABA merger where there were many more teams and much more talent.

The Final chart is for the league MVP from the first few seasons before the award was created.

Year	Player
1947	Bob Feerick
1948	Bob Feerick
1949	George Mikan
1950	George Mikan
1951	George Mikan
1952	Paul Arizin
1953	Neil Johnston
1954	Neil Johnston
1955	Neil Johnston

This process has been a ton of fun and this part was the most tedious but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope this was helpful or informative for someone out there.

-Bibs

Companion Pieces

The Adjustments

The Methodology