The first NBA Finals MVP award went to Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1969. West was a great player, one of the best of his generation and probably a top ten all time guard. He had a great series against the Celtics, putting up an absurd 37.9 points and 7.4 assists while shooting 49% from the field and 83.9% at the line. The thing is, his team lost the series in seven games. Since then, a player from the losing team has never won a Finals MVP. That made me wonder, if the award went to someone from the winning team, who would that be? I then wondered who might’ve won it all the years before there was a Finals MVP. After all, the Celtics had won ten titles before the first one was awarded. To determine who the winners should’ve been(in my opinion), I looked at every player who played for a championship team who averaged at least thirty minutes per game in the series and compared their stats. For that reason, I only looked at the Finals starting in 1957, because most earlier series didn’t have surviving statistics on minutes per game.
1957: Tom Heinsohn, age 22, power forward, Boston Celtics
| 1957 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| Bob Cousy | 20.7 | 6.7 | 9.1 | 31.8 | 83.1 |
| Tom Heinsohn | 24 | 12.6 | 2.1 | 40.4 | 70.8 |
| Bill Russell | 13.3 | 22.9 | 3.3 | 35.6 | 48.8 |
| Bill Sharman | 21.9 | 3.7 | 3 | 37.3 | 95.9 |
Tommy Heinsohn had a great year in 1956-57, winning Rookie of the Year, making the All Star game, and winning an NBA championship. Had he won Finals MVP, he probably would’ve been the only player in NBA history to do all four in one season. Magic Johnson won a title and Finals MVP as a rookie in 1980, but Rookie of the Year went to Larry Bird. I went with Tommy for ‘57 because he led the team in scoring on relatively good efficiency and put up impressive rebounding numbers. Russell was as usual way ahead of everybody in rebounding, but wasn’t lighting it up in other areas. Cousy’s points and assists are impressive, but his field goal percentage was downright bad.
1958: Bob Pettit, age 25, power forward, St. Louis Hawks
| 1958 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| Cliff Hagan | 25.2 | 9.7 | 3.5 | 44.2 | 86.8 |
| Slater Martin | 12.2 | 4.5 | 3.3 | 31.9 | 65.9 |
| Jack McMahon | 8.3 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 42 | 53.3 |
| Bob Pettit | 29.3 | 17 | 2.2 | 42.3 | 75.9 |
Big Bob Pettit was dominant in the only Finals victory in the history of the Hawks franchise, be it in St. Louis or elsewhere. His scoring and rebounding led the team, and his shooting wasn’t bad either by the standards of the day. Cliff Hagan was impressive as well, but only had Pettit decisively beat in free throw shooting, which I consider the least important category.
1959: Tom Heinsohn, age 24, power forward, Boston Celtics
| 1959 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| Bob Cousy | 16.8 | 8 | 12.8 | 30.8 | 61.3 |
| Tom Heinsohn | 24.3 | 8.8 | 3 | 47.5 | 80.8 |
| Frank Ramsey | 22.5 | 5.8 | 2.5 | 47.1 | 86.7 |
| Bill Russell | 9.3 | 29.5 | 5.3 | 31.6 | 44.8 |
I have Heinsohn again for 1959, as he led the Celtics in points and field goal percentage and averaged nearly nine rebounds. Frank Ramsey’s stats were close though, but he only has Tommy beat in free throw percentage.
1960: Bill Russell, age 26, center, Boston Celtics
| 1960 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| Bob Cousy | 14.4 | 3.7 | 10 | 31.1 | 82.6 |
| Tom Heinsohn | 22.4 | 9.7 | 2.1 | 42.3 | 61 |
| Frank Ramsey | 18.4 | 7.3 | 1 | 48 | 81.6 |
| Bill Russell | 16.7 | 24.9 | 3 | 47.1 | 68.5 |
1960 was a tough one, but I decided to go with Bill Russell for the first of six times. He was way ahead of everyone in rebounding, but also put up nearly 17 points on pretty good shooting and averaged more assists than Heinsohn or Ramsey. Russell’s free throw shooting still wasn’t great, but it was much improved compared to 1957 and ‘59. Heinsohn would probably just edge out Ramsey as my second choice, and both had a strong series.
1961: Bill Russell, age 27, center, Boston Celtics
| 1961 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| Bob Cousy | 19.8 | 5 | 10.6 | 36 | 81.4 |
| Frank Ramsey | 15.2 | 5 | 2 | 39.7 | 81.5 |
| Bill Russell | 17.6 | 28.8 | 4.4 | 42.9 | 44.9 |
I had to break my own rule a little to make this one more interesting. The Celtics only played two guys for an average of thirty or more minutes this series, those being Russell and Cousy, and Ramsey only played 29.6 minutes. I went with Russell again for this year due to his rebounding, having the best shooting of the three, and the fact that he only averaged 2.2 points less than Cousy, who would’ve been my second choice.
1962: Bill Russell, age 28, center, Boston Celtics
| 1962 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| Bob Cousy | 16.6 | 3.7 | 9.3 | 38.5 | 61.1 |
| Tom Heinsohn | 19.3 | 6.1 | 2.4 | 38.6 | 77.1 |
| Sam Jones | 22.1 | 6 | 3 | 50.7 | 73.1 |
| Bill Russell | 22.9 | 27 | 5.7 | 54.3 | 74.2 |
| Tom Sanders | 12.7 | 6.6 | 1.6 | 50.7 | 93.8 |
1962 was a real no-doubter for Russell, as he led the team in points, rebounds and shooting and was pretty good from the line as well. His nearly six assists were also impressive for a big man, especially in that era. Sam Jones was their second best player, but it wasn’t that close.
1963: Bill Russell, age 29, center, Boston Celtics
| 1963 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| Bob Cousy | 12.2 | 2.7 | 8.5 | 33.3 | 78.6 |
| Tom Heinsohn | 23.3 | 9.2 | 1.3 | 41.2 | 74.4 |
| Sam Jones | 24.7 | 7.3 | 3.2 | 45.2 | 87.2 |
| Bill Russell | 20 | 26 | 5.3 | 46.7 | 69.2 |
| Tom Sanders | 13.5 | 9.7 | 1.3 | 48.6 | 68.4 |
I gave Russell his fourth straight for ‘63, although you could make a case for Sam Jones, as well. Jones averaged 4.7 more points and was the much better free throw shooter, but Russell’s higher rebounding, assist, and field goal percentage numbers outweigh that for me.
1964: Sam Jones, age 30, shooting guard, Boston Celtics
| 1964 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| Tom Heinsohn | 15 | 8.8 | 2.2 | 35.4 | 77.3 |
| K.C. Jones | 6.4 | 2.6 | 6.6 | 34.3 | 57.1 |
| Sam Jones | 21.2 | 4.4 | 2.8 | 55.6 | 70.3 |
| Bill Russell | 11.2 | 25.2 | 5 | 38.6 | 48 |
| Tom Sanders | 10.2 | 6.2 | 0.2 | 38.8 | 72.2 |
This year I handed it over to the sometimes overlooked and underrated Sam Jones, who not only outscored Russell by ten points a game, but shot the ball extremely well from the field and was much better at the line. Russell is certainly my second choice, but Jones’ high and efficient scoring outweighs Russell’s rebounding and passing for me this time.
1965: Bill Russell, age 31, center, Boston Celtics
| 1965 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| John Havlicek | 18.2 | 5.6 | 2.2 | 39.1 | 86.4 |
| K.C. Jones | 11.4 | 2.6 | 6.6 | 46 | 78.6 |
| Sam Jones | 27.8 | 4.8 | 2.6 | 47 | 87.9 |
| Bill Russell | 17.8 | 25 | 5.8 | 70.2 | 57.5 |
| Tom Sanders | 13.8 | 8.8 | 2 | 39.1 | 68.2 |
This was another of Russell’s best finals, and his 70.2% from the field is an absolute outlier. His rebounding was superb as always, his scoring was up from the year before, and he averaged 0.8 assists less than the leader, K.C. Jones. Sam Jones would’ve been my second choice, and his 27.8 points is very impressive, as is his free throw shooting.
1966: Bill Russell, 32, center, Boston Celtics
| 1966 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| John Havlicek | 23 | 10 | 4 | 42.7 | 89.2 |
| K.C. Jones | 7.3 | 3.1 | 4.4 | 37.7 | 72.2 |
| Sam Jones | 22.9 | 6.4 | 3.3 | 40.6 | 88.9 |
| Bill Russell | 23.6 | 24.3 | 3.7 | 53.8 | 74 |
| Tom Sanders | 14.7 | 6.4 | 1.9 | 48.8 | 84 |
1966 might’ve been the best of all of Russell’s twelve Finals appearances. He put up basically 24, 24 and 4 on good shooting, both from the field and at the line. It was a strong showing for John Havlicek as well, but nobody was even close to eclipsing Russell’s impact in this one.
1967: Wilt Chamberlain, 30, center, Philadelphia 76ers
| 1967 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| Wilt Chamberlain | 17.7 | 28.5 | 6.8 | 56 | 30.6 |
| Billy Cunningham | 19.7 | 5.7 | 3 | 44.9 | 53.7 |
| Hal Greer | 26 | 8 | 6.2 | 39.9 | 82.6 |
| Luke Jackson | 9.2 | 12.5 | 1.8 | 36.8 | 61.9 |
| Wali Jones | 20.2 | 3.5 | 5.3 | 45.5 | 75 |
| Chet Walker | 23.3 | 8.8 | 3.3 | 45.1 | 77.4 |
This year was a change of pace, as finally a team besides the Celtics won it all. This is an easy choice, as Wilt led the team in rebounding, assists and field goal percentage, even if four of his teammates had more points. Wilt still scored plenty and very efficiently, and his teams always did better when he didn’t try to do everything. For my second choice, I’d probably go with Chet Walker.
1968: John Havlicek, 28, shooting guard, Boston Celtics
| 1968 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| John Havlicek | 27.3 | 8.7 | 6.7 | 42.1 | 88.5 |
| Bailey Howell | 21 | 7.5 | 1.2 | 56.7 | 72.7 |
| Sam Jones | 17.5 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 43.6 | 85 |
| Bill Russell | 17.3 | 21.8 | 5.7 | 43 | 60 |
| Larry Siegfried | 15.5 | 3 | 4 | 41.3 | 84.4 |
This was a tough choice, but I went with Havlicek. There’s a case to be made for Russell with his insane rebounding and strong passing and scoring, but I think Havlicek edges him out. He averaged ten more points, one more assist, shot much better at the line, had a nearly equal field goal percentage and rebounded better than anyone but Russell. Bailey Howell had a nice series as well.
1969: John Havlicek, 29, shooting guard, Boston Celtics
| 1969 Finals | PTS | TRB | AST | FG% | FT% |
| Em Bryant | 11 | 5 | 2.7 | 40.3 | 88.2 |
| John Havlicek | 28.3 | 11 | 4.4 | 45.7 | 84.7 |
| Sam Jones | 18.7 | 3.6 | 2.3 | 47.1 | 82.6 |
| Bill Russell | 9.1 | 21.1 | 5.1 | 39.7 | 58.3 |
This was an easier decision in Havlicek’s favor. He was way ahead in points, not to mention the double digit rebounding, and he shot the ball pretty well, too. Russell’s rebounding was great as always, but his shooting and scoring were too low to consider giving him the award. Either Russell or Jones would be my second choice among the Celtics. So what about the real winner, Jerry West? Personally, I don’t have a huge problem with him getting it. It was the first ever Finals MVP, and the precedent hadn’t been set that it would always go to a player from the winning team, and statistically, West was the best player in that series. Still, it is slightly irritating to me that in any other year, one of the Celtics (probably John Havlicek) would’ve gotten the award and had it to add to their legacy.
Mack's Basketball Stuff 