2024 Playoffs are First Conference Finals Without a Former MVP

Highlights

First time in NBA history – no current/former MVP in the final four: unprecedented lack of MVP star power.
Young talent shines: Edwards, Haliburton, Towns, and Siakam lead the way without MVP nods.
Intense playoff battles: Despite no MVPs, Conference Finals promise exciting matchups and new star power.

The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Indiana Pacers helped make NBA history after winning their Game 7 second-round matchups on Sunday and advancing to the Conference Finals.

The Timberwolves will take on the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals while the Indiana Pacers will face the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Though both Conference Finals series’ are highly anticipated, none of the four teams will feature a player who has won an NBA MVP for the first time since the award was established in 1956.

The NBA is Entering a New Era

Young stars are starting to steal the spotlight from all-time greats

The NBA Playoffs have been dominated by a select group of generational talents in the last 68 years. Chicago Bulls five-time MVP Michael Jordan tore through the Eastern Conference Finals eight times in the 1990s, but other winners like David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) and Karl Malone (Utah Jazz) had their opportunities out West.

The 1970s was an era that saw a revolving door of talent reach this stage of the playoffs. Albeit, four decades in particular saw the same two or three MVPs make the Conference Finals almost every year. None of the four decades below had more than one year without either of the listed MVPs in the Conference Finals.

Decades Dominated by MVPs in the Conference Finals
Decade	MVP Winners	Division/Conference Finals Appearances
1960s	Bill Russell	9
1980s	Magic Johnson	8
1980s	Larry Bird	5
2000s	Shaquille O’Neal	5
	Kobe Bryant	6
	Tim Duncan	5
2010s	LeBron James	8
2010s	Stephen Curry	5

This year’s cast of characters features young franchise players Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves) and Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers) who have All-Star nods on their resumes, as well as All-NBA award-winning co-stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Pascal Siakam, all of whom never finished as finalists in MVP voting in their careers.

The Mavericks and Celtics have superstars who have come close to taking home the Michael Jordan Trophy, but to no avail. Mavs franchise player Luka Dončić won the 2024 Scoring Title and finished third in MVP voting this year, losing to winner Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets). His teammate and 2016 NBA champion Kyrie Irving has fared the same in his pro career.

Meanwhile, neither Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum nor his All-Star teammate Jaylen Brown have won an MVP despite leading Boston to the league’s best record at 64-18 in 2023-24 and a 57-win season the year prior.

Despite the lack of MVP hardware in this year’s Conference Finals, both series’ are slated to offer intense battles and much box-office appeal. The NBA is shifting away from its lone-star paradigm as James, Curry and 2014 MVP Kevin Durant age. Thus, several of the stars gunning for this year’s Larry O’Brien Trophy could find themselves winning a Most Valuable Player award in the near future and making 2024 a blip in NBA time.