NBA Finals 2025: How Is Finals MVP Decided? Tyrese Haliburton, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Pascal Siakam? Who Are the Front Runners Before Game 7?

“If he wins tonight and gets the MVP, he will have a Hall of Fame resume… end of story, at age 26”. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst declared this about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander before Game 6 of the NBA Finals. While the OKC Thunder did not win that matchup, the belief still applies if the squad secures the win in Game 7. After all, the Canadian star has already led the league in scoring and captured the regular-season MVP this season. Suppose he secures the championship ring and the Finals MVP title. In that case, he will become only the 4th ever NBA player, after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, and Michael Jordan, to achieve them all in one season.

However, as the past instances with Stephen Curry and Tim Duncan showed us, the player most expected to win the Finals MVP title does not always walk away with it. Therefore, without any further ado, let us look at the criteria that go into bestowing this honor on a star player.

How is the NBA Finals MVP chosen?

As the name suggests, the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award is given to the best-performing player in the NBA Finals series. Not the entire playoffs, or anything done in the regular season. Just the Finals. Given that the series went up till Game 7, there is a lot of data available for the voters to analyze and base their decision on.

Speaking of the voters, a panel of 11 members of the media will reportedly decide who will get this award. The panel is made up of journalists, broadcasters, and analysts, everyone of whom attends the NBA Finals. Each one will select only one player who, according to them, was the most valuable to their respective team in this series. This is a change from the regular-season MVP voting, which utilizes a ranking or point system. One panel member = One vote.

For the NBA Finals MVP 2024 voting, the panel was made up of renowned NBA personalities like Malika Andrews of ESPN, Sam Amick of The Athletic, Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com, Doris Burke of ABC, P. J. Carlesimo of ESPN Radio, Mike Curtis of Dallas Morning News, Vince Goodwill of Yahoo Sports, Shaun Powell of NBA.com, Simone Sandri of La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy), Gary Washburn of Boston Globe, and finally, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.

A tie is yet to happen in the history of NBA Finals MVP voting within this basketball league. However, in the rare case history is made, the tie would be broken internally.

What factors influence the Finals MVP selection?

The official NBA Guidelines give no official rules on what the voters need to consider when voting for the Finals MVP honor. However, by analyzing the past winners, it has been speculated that, unofficially, four factors go into deciding who gets this award:

• Statistical dominance (made up of breakdown of points, assists, rebounds, efficiency)
• Clutch performances (especially in key games or crucial moments)
• Leadership and impact (both on offense and defense)
• Consistency

These factors certainly played a role in making a decision for who won the Eastern Conference Finals MVP this season. After all, while Tyrese Haliburton was the favorite to win the award, his inconsistency lowered his ranking. In the end, Pascal Siakam won the award.

Have NBA players won the league MVP and Finals MVP titles before?

Throughout the NBA’s 79-year-long history, only 8 players have ever won the league MVP and Finals MVP titles in the same year. Willis Reed was the first one to achieve this feat, back in 1970, after the New York Knicks won their first ever NBA championship. Moses Malone and Larry Bird secured both in back-to-back years (1983 and 1984), Magic Johnson secured the titles in 1987, and Hakeem Olajuwon secured them in 1994. And then there’s Michael Jordan.

MJ became the first, and only player to date, to win both league MVP and Finals MVP in multiple seasons, as success came his way in 1991, 1992, 1996, and 1998. Shaquille O’Neal was the first NBA player in the new millennium to win both titles, back in 2000, while Tim Duncan was the last person to do it, back in 2003.

Who is the favorite to win Finals MVP from both sides?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, without a doubt, is the current favourite to win the MVP from the Oklahoma City Thunder. He has been the highest average scorer within his team up till this point in the series, having averaged 30.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists. Being the lead scorer, the team leader, and the winner of the Western Conference Finals MVP, the odds are certainly in his favor.

Meanwhile, from the Indiana Pacers side, the race is a close one between Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton. Siakam has been the most consistent with his performances, having averaged 19.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in the last 6 games. In comparison, Haliburton averaged only 14.8. However, the point guard was dealing with a calf injury in Game 6, and even before. Despite that, he turned in a strong performance in limited minutes to help the Indiana Pacers force a winner-take-all Game 7. Therefore, his contributions certainly cannot go unmarked.

Due to this legacy, the expectations are currently high on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. During a recent segment of ‘The Hoop Collective’ podcast, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon highlighted that losing the Finals MVP in a season where you got the league MVP can subject you to humiliation from fans for a specific period. As McMahon recalled, “It’s like, it’d be like when LeBron lost in 2011, not when LeBron lost the first time, but when LeBron lost in 2011, when he was, you know, on a team that was the clear-cut favorites, right?”

Meanwhile, his co-host, Tim Bontemps, used Stephen Curry and the 2016 Golden State Warriors squad as a reference point, “Cause people have clowned that team ever since they didn’t win, even though they, and then they got Durant. Obviously, they won after that. But that team, you know, they got made fun of that whole summer, and beyond, for not winning that series and not winning that title, and that’s what at stake here.” So, no pressure, OKC Thunder!

Who would you like to see become the Finals MVP? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.