NBA All-Star
2025 NBA All-Star Game: who has won the most All-Star Game MVP awards?
The Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player award is currently held by Bucks guard Damian Lillard.
The NBA All-Star Game is a meeting of the league’s top players and, even in the new expanded format, is a chance for the world’s best to claim bragging rights
Every year one star is named Most Valuable Player, a prize now named the Kobe Bryant MVP award. The current holder is Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard who put in a starring performance in the 2024 All-Star Game.
Only two players have ever won the award four times: Kobe Bryant and Bob Pettit. Behind them, Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and LeBron James have all been crowned NBA All-Star MVP on three occasions.
Most NBA All-Star MVP awards
Four wins
- Bob Pettit - St. Louis Hawks
- Kobe Bryant - Los Angeles Lakers
Three wins
- Oscar Robertson - Cincinnati Royals
- Michael Jordan - Chicago Bulls
- Shaquille O'Neal - Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns
- LeBron James - Cleveland Cavaliers
Two wins
- Bob Cousy - Boston Celtics
- Julius Erving - Philadelphia 76ers
- Isiah Thomas - Detroit Pistons
- Karl Malone - Utah Jazz
- Magic Johnson - Los Angeles Lakers
- Allen Iverson - Philadelphia 76ers
- Russell Westbrook - Oklahoma City Thunder
- Kevin Durant - Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors
LeBron James is making his 21st appearance in the All-Star Game this year and could become the third member of the exclusive four-time MVP club. All three of his previous MVP awards came during his two stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, first in 2006 and 2008, and then again in 2018.
History of the Kobe Bryant MVP award
In January 2020 the world of sport was shocked by the tragic death of Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash. Bryant, one of the greatest and most influential NBA players of all time, was just 41 years old at the time of his death.
It was at the All-Star weekend in 1997 that Bryant first announced his talent globally, winning the Slam Dunk contest as a rookie. He went on to win five NBA championships and was selected for the NBA All-Star Game on 18 occasions, right up to his retirement from the game in 2016.
As the world mourned his death the league took the decision to rename the All-Star Game MVP award in his honour. Since February 2020 the award has been known as the NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant MVP Award.
“Kobe Bryant is synonymous with NBA All-Star and embodies the spirit of this global celebration of our game,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver explained. “He always relished the opportunity to compete with the best of the best and perform at the highest level for millions of fans around the world.”
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