From LeBron’s block to Jordan’s 41: the greatest NBA finals MVPs

Dirk Nowitzki earned his only championship playing against “the Heatles,” the Miami super team formed when perennial All-Stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh took their talents to South Beach to join Dwyane Wade, yet another perennial All-Star. Game 1 of the series immediately gave the oddsmakers reason for concern. In a tense, low-scoring affair in Miami, Nowitzki used a splint to shrug off an in-game torn tendon in his left hand before hitting the game-winner with the very hand he injured. He then won Game 4 despite having a sinus infection and a fever of 101F, confirming his now undisputed ability to play excellently through trying circumstances.

1969 was West’s sixth finals appearance – and he had lost all five previous matchups to the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics. Despite this track record, West played incredibly, averaging 38 points per game throughout the series, including a 53-point performance in Game 1 and a 40-point triple-double in Game 7, which the Lakers lost to give Boston the title. West’s inspired performance wasn’t lost on his opponents: Russell famously remarked that “Los Angeles has not won the championship, but Jerry West is a champion.” The powers that be also recognized the quality of West’s play, awarding him the first ever-finals MVP award and the only one ever given to a player on the losing team.

Sometimes lost amid the 1990s’ other superstars were two years of quiet dominance by the league’s first international superstar, Hakeem Olajuwon. One of several performances on this list that are defined by the exceptional quality of his opponent, Olajuwon’s Rockets swept a Shaquille O’Neal-led Orlando Magic that had just knocked Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls out of the playoffs (the only team to do