Individual glory but no rings: These are the MVP winners who retired without winning a championship
We take a look back at the players who were unable to add a championship ring to their NBA MVP honors.
After reportedly being named the NBA’s MVP for 2024-25, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander now has the opportunity to become the first man in a decade to claim the best-player award and the championship in the same season.
Can SGA emulate Golden State great?
No player has won both the MVP trophy and the NBA title since the Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry doubled up in 2014-15.
Having beaten the Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers so far in this year’s playoffs, Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder are now one round away from the franchise’s first NBA Finals appearance since 2012.
In their Western Conference Finals series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Thunder took a 1-0 lead with victory in Game 1 on Tuesday.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the 2025 NBA MVP. pic.twitter.com/DNTmVn3AVe
— Real Sports (@realapp_) May 21, 2025
Who has won MVP but no NBA championships?
The No. 1 seed in the West, Oklahoma is the bookmakers’ favorite to win the 2025 championship. Should the Thunder fail to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy, however, Gilgeous-Alexander will remain one of just nine MVP winners without an NBA title to his name.
Of that list of players, he and three others are still active in the NBA:
- Joel Embiid: MVP in 2023
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 2025
- James Harden: 2018
- Russell Westbrook: 2017
Meanwhile, there are five players who won one or more MVP award during their NBA career, but retired before they could get their hands on a championship ring:
- Charles Barkley: MVP in 1993
- Allen Iverson: 2001
- Karl Malone: 1997, 1999
- Steve Nash: 2005, 2006
- Derrick Rose: 2011
SGA named MVP after leading OKC to stellar season
Although the NBA has not yet announced Gilgeous-Alexander as MVP, sources have confirmed the Canadian’s selection to the well-connected ESPN insider Shams Charania.
The league is expected to officially reveal the recipient of the MVP trophy later on Wednesday.
Gilgeous-Alexander has claimed his the first MVP of his NBA career after spearheading the Thunder to a 68-win regular season - a record unmatched in the league in 2024-25.
The 26-year-old, who becomes the seventh consecutive non-U.S.-born player to win MVP, averaged 32.7 points, five rebounds and 6.4 assists during the regular season.
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