Over the last 10 years, NBA players such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Nikola Jokic have captured the most individual major awards.
Over the last decade in the NBA, there has been a clear shift in power when it comes to the league’s most successful teams and most accomplished players. Certain teams and players have been dominant in their pursuit of NBA championships while players from these teams have accumulated most of the league’s major awards. The awards I am alluding to are championships, Finals MVPs, MVPs, Defensive Player of the Year awards, Sixth Man of the Year awards, Rookie of the Year awards, All-Star Game MVP awards, and Most Improved Player awards.
Over the last 10 seasons, there have been certain NBA players who have become some of the most accomplished in league history by rising to the top and accumulating more major awards than any other player. That is what we are here to discuss today. These NBA players are clearly the most valuable to their team’s success and have led them to heights that some NBA players never have or never will achieve.
Before we begin our official countdown of these top players, we must give recognition to those who find themselves on the outside looking in with three major award wins over the last 10 seasons. They are as follows:
NBA Players With Three Major Awards Over The Last 10 Years
Russell Westbrook – 3 (1x MVP, 2x All-Star Game MVP)
Rudy Gobert – 3 (3x Defensive Player Of The Year)
Lou Williams – 3 (3x Sixth Man Of The Year)
Danny Green – 3 (3x NBA Champion)
Kevon Looney – 3 (3x NBA Champion)
JaVale McGee – 3 (3x NBA Champion)
Shaun Livingston – 3 (3x NBA Champion)
Patrick McCaw – 3 (3x NBA Champion)
As you can see, there are a variety of players and ways they have found themselves on this list by winning three major awards since the 2013-14 season. Let’s start with former MVP and two-time All-Star Game MVP Russell Westbrook. He made history during the 2016-17 season when he averaged a triple-double for the entire season, becoming the first player to do so since Oscar Robertson in 1962. He added that MVP award to his back-to-back All-Star Game MVPs that he won with the Thunder in 2015 and 2016.
Then, there are two players who dominated a single award over the last 10 seasons as well. From 2018 through 2021, Rudy Gobert was the NBA’s best interior defender with the Utah Jazz. He consistently put up at least 2.0 blocks and over 10.0 rebounds per game to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2018, 2019, and 2021. Lou Williams displayed the same kind of dominance when it came to being the NBA’s best bench player. From 2015 through 2019, Williams averaged 18.2 points, 3.6 assists, and 1.0 steals per game largely in a bench role. This led to Sixth Man of the Year award wins in 2015, 2018, and 2019.
The rest of the players who have won three major awards in the last 10 years did so while being part of three different championship teams. Most notably, Danny Green won three titles with three different teams. He won in 2014 with the Spurs, 2019 with the Raptors, and 2020 with the Lakers. Shaun Livingston and Kevon Looney each won three championships with the Warriors over the last 10 seasons as well. Patrick McCaw and JaVale McGee would win two championships with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018 as well but McCaw added a third with the Raptors in 2019 and McGee added a third with the Lakers in 2020.
Now that we have covered the NBA players who did enough to earn three major NBA awards, it is time to cover the elite of the elite and the players who captured four or more awards since 2013-14.
T9. Klay Thompson – 4 Major Awards
Credit: Fadeaway World
NBA Championships – 4
One of the key components of the Golden State Warriors’ four championship wins since 2015 has been Klay Thompson. With his elite three-point shooting and two-way defensive output, Thompson has become a major reason why the Warriors are four-time NBA champions. There have been numerous times when Thompson has had to be the one Golden State turns to in big moments when the attention fell on teammates Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant, and he delivered.
In 2015, Thompson helped the Warriors capture their first championship with a playoff run of 18.6 points per game on 44.6% shooting overall and 39.0% shooting from three. After an epic collapse in the 2016 Finals, Thompson got even better when Kevin Durant came to town. As the Warriors won back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018, Thompson averaged 17.6 points and 4.0 rebounds per game on 43.7% shooting overall and 41.1% shooting from three over the course of those two championship runs.
As the Warriors competed for their fourth title in the 2019 Finals, Thompson would go down with a devastating torn ACL, costing him a year of play. He suffered a setback in his rehab and would not see the court again until almost halfway through the 2021-22 season. As the Warriors made their way through the playoffs, Thompson’s comeback would be complete with a fourth NBA championship. He averaged 19.0 points per game on 42.9% shooting overall and 38.5% shooting from three for his fourth title in eight seasons.
T9. Nikola Jokic – 4 Major Awards
Credit: Fadeaway World
NBA Championships – 1
Finals MVPs – 1
MVPs – 2
Over the last five seasons, we have been watching Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets completely rewrite what it means to be a dominant center in the NBA. Gone are the days of teams pounding the ball into the paint to their big men, ushering in an era of s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 we have never quite seen before from centers. At the forefront of this has been Jpokic who is one of the best passers, playmakers, and scorers at his position evidenced by the awards that continue to come his way.
In 2021 and 2022, Nikola Jokic was named MVP of the league in back-to-back seasons. In 2021, he averaged 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game to lead the Nuggets to the playoffs even after losing teammate Jamal Murray to a knee injury. In 2022, already without Murray, Michael Porter Jr. would go down with an injury and miss the entire season as well. Jokic responded with another MVP season averaging 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game, leading Denver to 48 wins and another playoff berth.
In the 2022-23 season, Jokic probably should have been named MVP for a third straight season. Although he would lose out on that honor, he would have the last laugh. Jokic would lead the Nuggets to their first championship in franchise history, completely dismantling every opponent that came before him. In a five-game series win over the Heat in the Finals, Jokic took home the Finals MVP with 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game on 58.3% shooting.
T7. Andre Iguodala – 5 Major Awards
Credit: Fadeaway World
NBA Championships – 4
Finals MVPs – 1
Before joining the Warriors in 2013-14, Andre Iguodala was an All-Star and defensive stopper with the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets. He arrived in Golden State and immediately accepted a lesser role for the betterment of the team which worked out perfectly in their favor. In 2015, Iguodala helped the Warriors capture their first NBA title since 1975 with a performance that will likely never be forgotten.
Iguodala was tasked with taking on LeBron James in the 2015 Finals, throwing a wrench in the all-time great’s plans for a championship with the Cavaliers, for that season anyway. Along with the championship, Iguodala would win Finals MVP for his defensive effort averaging 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. Age would eventually catch up to him but he was still a useful and impactful player off the bench for Golden State during their championship runs in 2017, 2018, and 2022.
T7. Draymond Green – 5 Major Awards
Credit: Fadeaway World
NBA Championships – 4
Defensive Player Of The Year – 1
Outside of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, no player has had more of an impact on the Golden State Warriors since 2015 than Draymond Green. His patience on the offensive end as a playmaker has allowed Golden State to become the offensive powerhouse they are with play developing for their scorers thanks to Green’s ability to read defenses. His ability to read defenses comes from his high level of defensive play himself as a versatile defender who can legitimately guard 1-5 on the court while also directing his teammates to their spots and assignments.
Green’s numbers have always been a subject of conversation but anyone who watched the Warriors on a regular basis knows just how much he means to their success. In the NBA Finals over the years, Green has averaged 11.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game to help them capture four titles in six trips.
In the 2017 season, as the Warriors added Kevin Durant to their offensive game plan, Green hit his peak as the best defender in the NBA. Green would win the first and only steals title of his career with 2.0 steals per game while also adding 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Green would be named Defensive Player of the Year as the Warriors won 67 games and went on to win the NBA championship.
T7. LeBron James – 5 Major Awards
Credit: Fadeaway World
NBA Championships – 2
Finals MVPs – 2
All-Star Game MVPs – 1
It is shocking to see a list in which LeBron James doesn’t rank toward the top as we have grown accustomed to over the last 20 years. With the parameters being set for 2013-14 to the present day, this cuts James’ accomplishments in half in terms of major awards as we have covered previously in our work.
Still, James has been one of the best players in the NBA with a lackluster cast of teammates around him for the most part. In 2016, he led the Cavaliers to their second straight NBA Finals in the midst of a streak that would end in eight straight trips to the Finals as an individual. Up against the 73-9 Warriors, James and the Cavaliers would orchestrate a comeback from a 3-1 deficit to win their first title in team history. James would grab Finals MVP honors with 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, and 2.6 steals per game. It was the greatest upset in NBA playoff history.
Four years later, James had moved on to the third franchise in his career, the Los Angeles Lakers. After a shutdown of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, James and the Lakers headed to the Bubble playoffs in Disney World in Orlando, Florida. There, James would lead the Lakers to their 17th world championship over his former team, the Miami Heat. James took home his fourth career Finals MVP award with 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game on 59.1% shooting from the field.
4. Kevin Durant – 6 Major Awards
Credit: Fadeaway World
NBA Championships – 2
Finals MVPs – 2
MVPs – 1
All-Star Game MVPs – 1
Kevin Durant’s ascent to the top of this list began in the 2013-14 season. During that season with the Thunder, Durant would win his fourth scoring title in a five-year stretch averaging 32.0 points per game on 50.3% shooting and 39.1% shooting from three. He also added 7.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game to capture his first and only MVP award of his career.
Two seasons later, Durant would lead the Thunder in a shocking and traitorous move to the Golden State Warriors. Durant made Golden State unstoppable as he led them to back-to-back NBA championships in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, he won Finals MVP honors with 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game in a win over the Cavaliers. He would follow that up in 2018 with another title and another Finals MVP in a sweep of Cleveland with 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game.
It was one of the most dominant three-year stretches we have ever seen from one player and one franchise. Durant’s All-Star Game MVP in 2019 would give him six major awards in the last 10 years and sole possession of fourth place on this list.
T2. Kawhi Leonard – 7 Major Awards
Credit: Fadeaway World
NBA Championships – 2
Finals MVPs – 2
Defensive Player Of The Year – 2
All-Star Game MVPs – 1
Kawhi Leonard is one of the few players on this list who won his major awards with more than one franchise. It all began with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014 when he helped lead them to their second straight NBA Finals appearance against the Miami Heat. During this series, Leonard would have the two-way impact of a prime Michael Jordan as he shut down LeBron James and dismantled Miami’s defense in Games 2-4. Leonard would win Finals MVP averaging 17.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game.
Over the next two seasons with the Spurs, Leonard would capture back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards 2.0 steals per game along with 7.0 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game as well. In 2018, the relationship between Leonard and the Spurs deteriorated to the point he was traded to the Raptors before the 2018-19 season.
What followed is one of the greatest single-season runs by a player ever. Leonard would lead the unsuspecting Raptors to the NBA playoffs with a 58-24 record. In the playoffs, Leonard put on a show with clutch shots and unreal defensive plays to lead them to their first NBA Finals in team history. In a six-game series against the Warriors, Leonard would lead Toronto to their only NBA championship as well and claim Finals MVP with 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game.
T2. Giannis Antetokounmpo – 7 Major Awards
Credit: Fadeaway World
NBA Championships – 1
Finals MVPs – 1
MVPs – 2
Defensive Player Of The Year – 1
Most Improved Player – 1
All-Star Game MVPs – 1
Over the last 10 years, we have watched Giannis Antetokounmpo go from a skinny, middle-of-the-pack draft pick to one of the most dominant players in today’s NBA. Giannis’ ascension to the top of this list began with the 2016-17 Most Improved Player award as one of the NBA’s best two-way players after three seasons of lackluster play. In 2019, Giannis would add to his awards with an MVP averaging 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game.
In 2020, Giannis would find a way to top his 2019 season. Antetokounmpo would take home both the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards with 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game as the Bucks went 56-17 in a shortened season due to COVID-19. Despite his rise to becoming the best player in the world, Giannis saved his best performance for 2021.
The 2020-21 season was a weird one for NBA players as they turned around quickly from the Bubble down in Orlando to a new season. Giannis would have another MVP-caliber season but was tired of losing in the first two rounds of the playoffs. He would put an end to that with a run to the NBA Finals to take on the Phoenix Suns. After falling down 2-0 in the Finals, Giannis would help the Bucks win four straight games averaging 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game. He was named Finals MVP and had delivered Milwaukee their first NBA championship since 1971.
1. Stephen Curry – 8 Major Awards
Credit: Fadeaway World
NBA Championships – 4
Finals MVPs – 1
MVPs – 2
All-Star Game MVPs – 1
Over the last 10 seasons, no NBA player has been more accomplished as an individual than Stephen Curry. Not only has he run away with the title of the greatest shooter that ever lived but has also entered the conversation as the greatest point guard in NBA history as well. This all started in 2015 when Curry won his first MVP award averaging 23.8 points, 7.7 assists, and 2.0 steals per game on 44.3% shooting from three. Later that season, Curry would help the Warriors win their first NBA title since 1975 over the Cavaliers.
The following season, Curry made history as he became the NBA’s first unanimous MVP as he led his team to a record 73 wins. Curry won a scoring title averaging 30.1 points per game on 50/40/90 shooting splits while also adding 5.4 rebounds, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game. Although they would lose the NBA Finals that season, Curry and the Warriors would have their payback, capturing back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.
In 2022, Curry would have the most meaningful season in his NBA career. Not only would he break Ray Allen’s three-point shooting record, but he also got the proverbial monkey off his back. After most had written them off and claimed the dynasty dead, Curry led the Warriors back to the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. In the Finals, Curry would put on a show as the Warriors won in six games and captured their fourth championship in eight years. More importantly. Curry was finally rewarded Finals MVP as he averaged 31.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game on 48.2% shooting overall and 43.7% shooting from three. Finally, Curry had been vindicated as the Warriors’ GOAT and one of the greatest players in NBA history.
