O Neal won MVP votes in 14 seasons, fifth in history, who are the top four?

MVP is one of the most important awards in the NBA in a season. The requirements to be met to get MVP are quite harsh. You must conquer those judges with picky gazes and let them vote, team record, personal game performance, etc., all need to achieve eye-catching and even surprising excellence.

Most of the players' performance will inevitably decline as they grow older, and the difficulties they need to overcome in the league are far more than that, but some players have shown strong competitiveness over the long years and can win votes from MVP judges. For example, O'Neal, who has won MVP votes for up to 14 seasons, ranking fifth in history. So, who are the top four? Let’s take a look together!

4th place: Carl Malone has won MVP votes in 15 seasons, and won MVP twice in his career. In his long 19-year career, Carl Malone has maintained a strong competitiveness for a long time, which is also the key reason why the Jazz can stand among the strong teams in the league for a long time. Carl Malone spent a lot of time in the strength room and was constantly trying to make up for his shortcomings. In just one season, Carl Malone grew from a rookie season average of 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds to 21.7 points and 10.4 rebounds, increasing his shooting percentage and steadily improving.

In the 1986-87 season, Carl Malone, who was in the second grade, received MVP votes for the first time and ranked 12th in the MVP list. As his career continued to deepen, Carl Malone gradually got rid of the situation of using his strength to fight against the advantages to score points, and instead practiced a stable mid-range shot, becoming an important fulcrum for the team's tactics and expanding his offensive skills library.

From the 1988-89 season to the 1991-92 season, Carl Malone ranked second in the league in averaging points per game for four consecutive years. Jordan has always been able to stabilize his position. From the 1992-93 season to the 1999-00 season, Carl Malone's average score has always remained at the top five in the league, and his strong competitiveness has lasted for more than ten years.

In the 1996-97 season, Carl Malone helped the Jazz play the best record of 64 wins and 18 losses, and ranked second in the league in the regular season offensive efficiency. This year, Carl Malone's PER value topped the league, averaging 27.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and his shooting percentage reached 55%. He beat Jordan in the MVP competition this season, won 63 first votes, and was elected as the MVP with a total score of 986 points.

Two years later, 35-year-old Carl Malone won the MVP trophy again, setting a record for the oldest NBA player to be elected as MVP. At the age of 37, Carl Malone won the MVP vote for the last time in his career and ranked seventh in the MVP list.

Third place: Duncan won MVP votes in 16 seasons, won MVP twice in his career, no matter how his teammates around him change, Duncan has always been the inside pillar of the Spurs for 19 years. When he first entered the league, Duncan is a "flying devil", with outstanding strength and flexible footsteps, and can use an offensive pace and ending method to score steadily at any time. In his rookie season, he showed his ability to axe the team on both offense and defense. He averaged 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.5 blocks per game. He was selected as a rookie and stood side by side with Carl Malone on the front line.

Rookie season Duncan won the MVP vote and reached fifth place on the list. In the following year, he helped the Spurs win the first championship in team history and became the FMVP. His shining resume at the beginning of his career made Duncan quickly become the darling of many MVP judges. He ranked second in the 2000-01 season and won his first MVP the next year.

David Robinson in the 2001-02 season experienced a significant decline, while Duncan scored a career-high 25.5 points, and scored 12.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.5 blocks. He took all the work Big Brother had to do before and completed the task well, and performed an offense and defense performance. He beat Kidd, O'Neal and others in the MVP competition to win the award. He won the MVP again in 2002-03, and was the first player to achieve such a success since Jordan. After 2006-07 season, Duncan has won four championships, two-time MVP winners, and has three FMVPs. It seems that it is difficult to leave too many traces on Duncan as he grows older. At the age of 37, he was selected for the best team and ranked seventh in the MVP list. Harden, Westbrook and Curry are all behind Duncan.

39 years old, at the end of the regular season, Duncan ranked in the top ten in the MVP list for the 13th time. This season, he also entered the top ten in the DPOY list and was selected into the third team of the best team. Although he did not get MVP votes in the 2015-16 season, Duncan, who is one year older, helped the team achieve an amazing record of 67 wins and 15 losses as the Spurs starting center.

Second: Jabbar won MVP votes in 17 seasons, and won MVP 6 times in his career. He made the top three in the rookie season. He averaged 28.8 points and 14.5 rebounds per game in both numbers. On the MVP list, Jabbar ranked only after Jerry West and Willis Reed. The next year, Jabbar squeezed his predecessors down and won the MVP, and won the MVP for the 1971-72 season. From then on, until the 1980-81 season, Jabbar never fell out of the top five of the MVP list.

From the 1973-74 season to the 1976-77 season, Jabbar won the MVP three times in four years. After winning the MVP again in the 1979-80 season, "Tian Gou" officially became the player with the most MVPs in the NBA, and ranked first on the list.. In the late stage of his career, Jabbar can still be ranked in the top five of the MVP list for three consecutive years, fourth in the 1983-84 season, fourth in the 1984-85 season, fifth in the 1985-86 season, and fifth in the 1985 playoffs, 38-year-old Jabbar helped the Lakers win the championship and won the FMVP, becoming the oldest FMVP.

Jabbar's decline in the 1985-86 season was already very obvious, but "Magic" Johnson reached the peak, and the two also turned around. "Magic" Johnson was the core to lead Jabbar to the championship, and won the championship twice in the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons. Jabbar can still win the cup at the age of 41.

No. 1: James won MVP votes in 19 seasons

MVP votes in 19 seasons

More than half of James ranked in the top three. In addition to winning MVP four times, James ranked second in the MVP list in 2005-06, 2013-14, 2017-18 and 2019-20 seasons, and third in the 2010-11 season, 2014-15 season and 2015-16 season.

James won votes in MVP voting for 19 consecutive years from his rookie season to the 2021-22 season. He missed the votes in the 2022-23 season and 2023-24 season. However, this season, James' competitive state was eye-catching and he still performed strongly after his 40th birthday. During the All-Star Weekend, ESPN launched a MVP mock vote, and James won 3 fifth votes, and finally ranked 11th on the list.