RealGM

How would you rank the finals performances of the last FMVP winners since 2014?

Kawhi 14'
Iggy 15'
LeBron 16'
Durant 17'
Durant 18'
Kawhi 19'
LeBron 20'
Giannis 21'
Curry 22'
Jokic 23'

Bron 16
Jokic 23
Curry 22
Giannis 21
Bron 20
KD 17
KD 18
Kawhi 19
Kawhi 14
Iggy 15

Iggy will be last on pretty much everyone’s lists and of course he’s up against all top 20ish all time players (Kawhi with better health), but he did have a a great deal of impact on that 2015 series:

With 2015 Iggy, Warriors +14.0 on court, Warriors -13.2 with Iggy off court, +27.2 ON-OFF. Yes, small sample size, lineup noise, etc., but he played a great series.

LeBron 16'
Jokic 23'
Giannis 21'
LeBron 20'
Curry 22'
Durant 17'
Durant 18'
Kawhi 19'
Kawhi 14'
Iggy 15'

Lebron 16
Jokic 23
Giannis 21
Lebron 20/Curry 22 (don't know about this one)
Kawhi 19
Iggy 15
Kawhi 14


KD 17 (gradeless)
KD 18 (gradeless)

If we are only looking at the Finals, I am not really seeing what puts Jokic ahead of Giannis here…

1. 2016 Lebron
2. 2021 Giannis
3. 2020 Lebron
4. 2023 Jokic
5. 2022 Curry (could be lower)
6. 2018 Durant (could be higher if judging solely off raw production)
7. 2017 Durant
8. 2019 Kawhi

Bottom two are obvious.

AEnigma wrote:If we are only looking at the Finals, I am not really seeing what puts Jokic ahead of Giannis here…

1. 2016 Lebron
2. 2021 Giannis
3. 2020 Lebron
4. 2023 Jokic
5. 2022 Curry (could be lower)
6. 2018 Durant (could be higher if judging solely off raw production)
7. 2017 Durant
8. 2019 Kawhi

Bottom two are obvious.

Yea cumulative playoffs I would have Jokic 2nd but Finals only Giannis would be 2nd since he had 35 ppg against the Suns.
No idea why the Suns didnt wall off Giannis, poor defensive strategy.

James 2016
Giannis 2021
Jokic 2023 / James 2020
Curry 2022 / Durant 2017
Durant 2018
Leonard 2019
Leonard 2014
Iggy 2015

Gap between the first 8 and last two, albeit great defensive series from the two of them and nothing can take that away.

LeBron 2016
Jokic 2023
Giannis 2021
LeBron 2020
Curry 2022
Kawhi 2019 (given competition and context, this is more impressive than what Durant did)
Durant 2017
Durant 2018
Kawhi 2014
Iggy 2015

Peregrine01 wrote:Bron 16
Jokic 23
Curry 22
Giannis 21
Bron 20
KD 17
KD 18
Kawhi 19
Kawhi 14
Iggy 15

Pretty much what mine would be except flip Giannis and Steph.

Bottom 2:

Kawhi 14
Iggy 15


The rest, honestly order them how you like. I can see justification for any order.

Just so adjustments can be made later I’m pretty sure that after 2021 giannis’s finals a lot of people put that over 2016 brons finals

That’s substantially more arguably than Jokic in these finals being over 2021 Giannis in the finals lol.

1. 2016 LeBron
2. 2021 Giannis
3. 2023 Jokic
4. 2020 Lebron
5. 2022 Curry
6. 2018 Durant
7. 2017 Durant
8. 2019 Kawhi
9. 2014 Kawhi
10. 2015 Iguodala

2016
2021
2020
2023
2022
2017*
2018*
2019
2015
2014

***Taxed for situation.

Peregrine01 wrote:Bron 16
Jokic 23
Curry 22
Giannis 21
Bron 20
KD 17
KD 18
Kawhi 19
Kawhi 14
Iggy 15

What makes Jokic better than 2020 LeBron, let alone 3 spots higher? Jokic went up against the same core but with a worse overall team and put up similar numbers. In 2020 Bam missed 2.5 games and Dragic missed most of the series but then again Oladipo and Herro were out and Jimmy was hobbled for the entirety of the series vs. the Nuggets so he had no chance to go nuclear the way he did against the Lakers.

One was 30/12/9 on 67% TS, the other was 30/14/7 on 67% TS. So at face value they're essentially equal, even slightly LeBron favored since the value of two assists > two rebounds and 67% TS in 2020 is better than 67% in 2023.

On/off differential has Jokic at +0.1, LeBron was at +15.2. I don't know if I read it here or somewhere else but Jokic was being touted as the greatest zone breaker OAT before the series but Miami's zone actually seemed to be effective in stagnating Denver's offense. Meanwhile in the sole game the Heat went to zone against the Lakers LeBron absolutely dissected them and LA finished with an ORtg of 136.0. With garbage time filtered LeBron's on court ORtg was 120.0 for the series. Jokic was at 111.6 (I believe there were 0 garbage time minutes but feel free to correct me on that one).

Putting him over Giannis is an aberration to me. If it wasn't for the disparity in competition between the Suns and the Warriors he'd probably be #1.

AEnigma wrote:If we are only looking at the Finals, I am not really seeing what puts Jokic ahead of Giannis here…

1. 2016 Lebron
2. 2021 Giannis
3. 2020 Lebron
4. 2023 Jokic
5. 2022 Curry (could be lower)
6. 2018 Durant (could be higher if judging solely off raw production)
7. 2017 Durant
8. 2019 Kawhi

Bottom two are obvious.

What's the argument for 18 KD over 17 KD?

If it's strictly finals performance

16 LeBron
21 Giannis
20 LeBron/23 Jokic - can't separate them.
22 Curry
17 Durant
18 Durant
19 Kawhi
15 Iguodala
14 Kawhi

TheGOATRises007 wrote:

AEnigma wrote:If we are only looking at the Finals, I am not really seeing what puts Jokic ahead of Giannis here…

1. 2016 Lebron
2. 2021 Giannis
3. 2020 Lebron
4. 2023 Jokic
5. 2022 Curry (could be lower)
6. 2018 Durant (could be higher if judging solely off raw production)
7. 2017 Durant
8. 2019 Kawhi

Bottom two are obvious.

What's the argument for 18 KD over 17 KD?

I do not really care about about the scoring advantage and am more impressed by his defence and ability to make proper reads within the offence rather than act as a play finisher off Curry doubles.

Assuming either Bron or Steph won FMVP in '15 would they be higher on people's lists?

parsnips33 wrote:Assuming either Bron or Steph won FMVP in '15 would they be higher on people's lists?

Bron yes but he wouldn’t have deserved FMVP

Curry would be higher than iggy or Kawhi would be for sure, but it wasn’t his best series from what I remember right?

parsnips33 wrote:Assuming either Bron or Steph won FMVP in '15 would they be higher on people's lists?

Would take either over one of the KD years and Kawhi honestly