The Most Valuable Player (MVP) was an annual award first awarded in the 1967–68 season . Every player who has won the award has played for a team with at least 45 regular-season wins. The inaugural award winner was Hall of Famer Connie Hawkins . Hall of Famer Julius Erving won the award three times, all with the New York Nets . Mel Daniels won it twice with the Indiana Pacers . Erving and George McGinnis were joint winners in the 1974–75 season .
24-584: Two rookies won the award: Spencer Haywood in the 1969–70 season and Artis Gilmore in the 1971–72 season . All are in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame . Erving and McGinnis both won the award for the 1974–75 season. Daniels and Erving were the only multiple time winners. Erving is the only player to also win the NBA Most Valuable Player Award . Spencer Haywood Spencer Haywood (born April 22, 1949)
48-778: A granddaughter from Zulekha named Lavina. His wife Linda (Fay) died in 2022 and this information was shared on Spencer's social media accounts. Haywood was lifelong friends with Lonnie Lynn , his teammate on the Denver Rockets . He is the godfather of Lynn's son, rapper Common . Haywood was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2015. Haywood is a huge fan of jazz and has hosted weekly two-hour weekend jazz shows in Seattle (1971–1975, KYAC ) and New York (1976–1978, WRVR ). Haywood
72-488: A player to wait until four years after his high school class graduated, prohibited him from entering the league. The American Basketball Association (ABA) had a similar rule, but league executive Mike Storen came up with the idea for a hardship exemption. With his mother raising 10 children while picking cotton at $ 2 per day in Mississippi, Haywood met the criteria. He joined the Denver Rockets after they selected him in
96-626: A strong 23-point, 11-rebound performance in 1974. In the 1974–75 season, he helped lead the SuperSonics to their first playoff berth. Overall, during his five seasons with Seattle, Haywood averaged 24.9 points per game and 12.1 rebounds per game. In 1975, the SuperSonics traded him to the New York Knicks where he later teamed with Bob McAdoo . Haywood later played for the New Orleans Jazz , Los Angeles Lakers , and Washington Bullets . During
120-426: A third team vote. Starting in 2023–24, the five highest point totals regardless of position make up the first team, with the second and third teams following. During the positional era, the players with the highest point totals at each position made the first team, with the next highest making the second team and so forth. On one occasion, six players were placed on a team, when Bob Davies and Dolph Schayes tied for
144-579: Is an American former professional basketball player and Olympic gold medalist. Haywood is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame , being inducted in 2015. Spencer Haywood was born on April 22, 1949, in Silver City, Mississippi . He grew up in poverty and his family worked as sharecroppers . In 1964, Haywood moved to Detroit, Michigan residing in the Krainz Woods neighborhood. In 1967, while attending Pershing High School , Haywood led
168-458: Is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been selected in every season of the league's existence, dating back to its inaugural season in 1946 . The All-NBA Team originally had two teams, but since 1988 it is typically composed of three five-man lineups—a first, second, and third team. From 1956 through 2023 , voters selected two guards , two forwards , and one center for each team. This contrasts with
192-502: The 2023–24 season , coinciding with the start of a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NBA and its players' union , the NBA adopted the WNBA's "positionless" format for All-NBA team composition—which the NBA had originally used before adopting a positional model in 1955–56. NBA players receive five points for a first team vote, three points for a second team vote, and one point for
216-727: The ABA draft . In his 1969–70 rookie season, Haywood led the ABA in both scoring at 30.0 points per game and rebounding at 19.5 rebounds per game, while leading the Rockets to the ABA's Western Division Title. In the playoffs, Denver defeated the Washington Caps in 7 games in the Western Division Semifinals before falling to the Los Angeles Stars in the division finals, 4 games to 1. He
240-604: The Washington Bullets . Haywood's number 24 jersey was retired by the SuperSonics during a halftime ceremony on February 26, 2007. Haywood currently resides in Las Vegas . He was married to fashion model Iman from 1977 until 1987, and they had a daughter, Zulekha (born 1978). He remarried in 1990 and with his wife, Linda, he has three daughters; Courtney Nikkiah, Shaakira& Isis Chanel. He has 3 grandchildren (as of early 2024); 2 grandsons from 2 of his younger daughters and
264-637: The All-NBA First Team, including four players for the first time in 2023. From the 1946–47 season to 1954–55 season , the All-NBA Team was composed of two teams, each with five roster spots, except when there were ties. During this period, players were selected without regard to position. From the 1955–56 season to 1987–88 season , the All-NBA Team was composed of two teams, each with five roster spots, except when there were ties. During this time, players were selected with regard to position. From
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#1733084971262288-602: The Making of an American Iconoclast by Marc J. Spears and Gary Washburn. Haywood was named to the All-NBA First Team in 1972 and 1973 and the All-NBA Second Team in 1974 and 1975. Haywood's 29.2 points per game in the 1972–73 season and 13.4 rebounds per game in 1973–74 are the single-season record averages for the SuperSonics for these categories. Haywood played in four NBA All-Star Games while with Seattle, including
312-502: The NBA's eligibility rules, Haywood joined the Seattle SuperSonics , and with SuperSonics owner Sam Schulman launched an antitrust suit against the league ( Haywood v. National Basketball Association ). The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court which found in favor of Haywood 7–2. The suit and its impact on college basketball and the NBA was the focus of a 2020 book The Spencer Haywood Rule: Battles, Basketball, and
336-425: The first team in 1952 ; the second team remained at five. The 2023–24 season introduced an eligibility threshold of 65 games played (out of the normal 82-game schedule) for most major regular-season playing awards and honors, including the All-NBA Team. To receive credit for a game for purposes of award eligibility, a player must have been credited with at least 20 minutes played. However, two "near misses", in which
360-399: The flexibility to designate a player at a position which was not their primary role. A player who received votes at multiple positions was classified at the position in which they received the most votes. This occasionally caused a player to be slotted to a lower team or miss an All-NBA selection altogether. For example, Draymond Green received votes at forward and center in 2016 , but he
384-506: The late 1970s, Haywood became addicted to cocaine . He was dismissed from the Lakers by then-coach Paul Westhead during the 1980 NBA Finals for falling asleep during practice due to his addiction. The next season Haywood played in Italy for Reyer Venezia Mestre (then under the sponsor name "Carrera Reyer Venezia") along with Dražen Dalipagić before returning to the NBA to play two seasons with
408-458: The player appeared for 15 to 19 minutes, can be included in the 65-game count. Protections also exist for players who suffer season-ending injuries, who are eligible with 62 credited games, and those affected by what the CBA calls "bad faith circumstances". During the era of position-based team composition, voters were instructed to "vote for the player at the position he plays regularly", and some used
432-487: The record with fifteen. James also has the most All-NBA First Team honors with thirteen and is the only player to have done so as a member of three different teams, while Bryant and Karl Malone are tied for second-most with eleven. Malone and James each share a record eleven consecutive first-team selections. Hakeem Olajuwon became the first international player to be named All-NBA in 1985–86. Since 2019, at least two international players have been named each season to
456-503: The school's basketball team to the state championship. Haywood attended Trinidad State Junior College in Trinidad, Colorado , during the 1967–68 college season, where he averaged 28.2 points and 22.1 rebounds per game. Due to his exceptional performance and talent, Haywood made the 1968 U.S. Olympic team at age 19, becoming the youngest American basketball player in Olympic history. Haywood
480-590: The voting for starters of the NBA All-Star Game , which has chosen two backcourt and three frontcourt players since 2013 . The NBA's sister league, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), announced late in its 2022 season that it was changing the composition of its All-WNBA Teams from the All-NBA format to a "positionless" format in which members are selected without regard to position. Starting with
504-508: Was featured in the first season of the HBO show, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty , where he was portrayed by actor Wood Harris . All-NBA First Team This is an accepted version of this page The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting
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#1733084971262528-617: Was named both the ABA Rookie of the Year and ABA MVP during the season, and became the youngest ever recipient of the MVP at the age of 21. His 986 field goals made, 1,637 rebounds, and 19.5 rebound per game average are the all-time ABA records for a season. Haywood also won the ABA's 1970 All-Star Game MVP that year after recording 23 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 blocked shots for the West team. In 1970, despite
552-472: Was placed on the second team as a forward although he had more total points than the first-team center, DeAndre Jordan . In 2020 , Khris Middleton garnered votes at both forward and guard, yet he was not on the third team despite having more points overall than Ben Simmons and Russell Westbrook , who were selected at guard. LeBron James has the most All-NBA selections with twenty. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , Kobe Bryant , and Tim Duncan previously shared
576-567: Was the leading scorer on the gold medal-winning team at 16.1 points per game, and he set a Team USA field goal percentage record of .719. Haywood transferred to the University of Detroit in the fall of that year, and led the NCAA in rebounding with a 21.5 average per game while scoring 32.1 points per game during the 1968–69 season. Haywood decided to turn pro after his sophomore year, but National Basketball Association (NBA) rules, which then required
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