NBA Finals: Who has won the most Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Awards?

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Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan and LeBron James

The NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award is an annual award given to the best player in the NBA Finals series, based on votes cast by a defined number of media members. 

In 2009, then NBA commissioner David Stern renamed the award to "Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award", in honour of 11-time Champion and Boston Celtics' Hall of Famer Bill Russell.

The award was first given out in 1969 when Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers received the honour. To date, West is the only player from the losing side to have received the Finals MVP award. 

Michael Jordan holds the record for the most Finals MVP awards with six to his name, all with the Chicago Bulls.

Behind him is LeBron James, who has been named the Finals MVP four times.

Here's a list of all the multiple-time Finals MVP award winners:

Player Teams No. Year
Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls 6 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998
LeBron James Miami Heat (2), Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers 4 2012, 2013, 2016, 2020
Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 3 1980, 1982, 1987
Shaquille O'Neal Los Angeles Lakers 3 2000, 2001, 2002
Tim Duncan San Antonio Spurs 3 1999, 2003, 2005
Willis Reed New York Knicks 2 1970, 1973
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers 2 1971, 1985
Larry Bird Boston Celtics 2 1984, 1986
Hakeem Olajuwon Houston Rockets 2 1994, 1995
Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers 2 2009, 2010
Kevin Durant Golden State Warriors 2 2017, 2018
Kawhi Leonard San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors 2 2014, 2019

While Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal are the only players in NBA history to have received the award three years in a row, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kawhi Leonard are the only players to receive the award while representing two different teams. 

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