NBA MVP Voting History: How the Ballot Works and How Media Panels Decide the Winner

Published 12 September 2026Features

Under the current media-driven format, each selected voter submits a single ballot listing five ranked choices from first place to fifth place. The league tabulates these ballots on a strict descending point scale:

• First place: 10 points
• Second place: 7 points
• Third place: 5 points
• Fourth place: 3 points
• Fifth place: 1 point

The player with the highest combined point total across all submitted ballots wins the award. While the league applies this 10-7-5-3-1 structure to rank contenders, The available sources state the current system but not the adoption date of the five-slot weighted formula.

The Shift From Locker Rooms to Broadcast Booths

Player-led voting defined the award's first quarter-century. Active competitors evaluated peers across the league.

The transition to a media panel in 1980–81 removed the vote from players entirely. By placing ballots in the hands of print journalists and television and radio broadcasters in NBA markets, the league centralized voting among professionals tasked with covering every franchise throughout the regular season.

The five-tiered ballot creates room for point accumulation beyond first-place selections. A candidate who appears on every ballot in the second or third position can build a substantial point tally even when first-place votes split among rival candidates. This scoring structure gives weight to down-ballot positions. An omission from a single fifth-place slot costs a player one point.

Documented Winners Across the Modern Era

The league's official winners list shows how the media panel has distributed the honor across franchises.

In the 2012–13 season, LeBron James won the award with the Miami Heat. Kevin Durant took the honor the following year for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2013–14. Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry won in 2015–16, followed by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook in 2016–17 and Houston Rockets guard James Harden in 2017–18.

The subsequent years saw repeated multi-year runs by frontcourt players:

• 2019–20: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
• 2020–21: Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
• 2021–22: Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
• 2022–23: Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
• 2023–24: Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
• 2024–25: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Jokić captured three awards across a four-year window for Denver, interrupted only by Embiid's win for Philadelphia in 2022–23. Gilgeous-Alexander's selection in 2024–25 returned the award to Oklahoma City, marking the franchise's third individual winner following Durant and Westbrook.

Published Ballots and Tabulated Point Totals

Full voting totals released by the league provide an exact accounting of how individual media members cast their ballots.

When Kevin Durant won the MVP for the 2013–14 season, the NBA published an official release showing he secured 119 first-place votes and 1,232 total points. The release documented the exact gap between Durant and the rest of the field, establishing a public record of how media consensus formed around his campaign.

The 2024–25 balloting followed the same transparent disclosure. Voting results compiled by Yahoo Sports showed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander collected 83 first-place votes, finishing with 939 total points to secure the trophy. Nikola Jokić placed second with 634 points. Victor Wembanyama finished third with 569 points, followed by Luka Dončić in fourth with 250 points and Cade Cunningham in fifth with 117 points.

These breakdowns demonstrate how the points drop across the top five tiers. Gilgeous-Alexander's 305-point lead over Jokić reflected broad support on the 10-point line, while the gap between Wembanyama and Dončić showed how third-place (5 points) and fourth-place (3 points) designations separated contenders in the middle of the ballot.

The Michael Jordan Trophy and Modern Ballot Scrutiny

In December 2022, the NBA renamed its highest individual regular-season honor the Michael Jordan Trophy.

The renaming tied the physical award to Jordan's competitive legacy, yet the selection criteria remain entirely mathematical. The league establishes no formal guidelines directing voters to prioritize individual scoring, defensive contributions, or team standings. Media members weigh those factors independently before submitting their ranked five-man lists.

Because the NBA publishes complete voting results at the conclusion of each season, every ballot faces immediate public review. The detailed point breakdowns reveal whether a winner emerged through overwhelming first-place alignment or by building a steady margin through lower-tier points on the 10-7-5-3-1 scale.