The Celtics are your 2024 NBA champions.
Boston closed out a dominant playoff run with a gentlemanly sweep of the Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals. Thanks to the efforts of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and many others, the Celtics finished the job in Boston, winning the fifth match.
Boston rolled to a 16-3 playoff record, making it one of the most dominant runs in NBA history.
By hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy with a true team effort, Bill Russell’s Finals MVP award could have gone to several different Celtics.
Who finally got this honor? Sports news presents the winner and the distribution of votes below.
MORE: Key stats, highlights from the Celtics-Mavericks Game 5 matchup in the 2024 NBA Finals
Who won the NBA Finals MVP?
Jaylen Brown is your 2024 Finals MVP.
Jaylen Brown is the 2024 #NBAFinals MVP! pic.twitter.com/6WKMyiPs2y
-NBA (@NBA) June 18, 2024
From the first moment after receiving the honor, Brown praised his teammates and co-star Tatum.
“It was a complete team effort. I share this with my brothers. My partner in crime, Jayson Tatum. He’s been with me the whole way. We share this together.”
“I share this with my brothers…we share this together.”
Jaylen Brown after winning Finals MVP ???? pic.twitter.com/KdyJXuJWrt
– Sports Center (@SportsCenter) June 18, 2024
Brown played the best basketball of his career throughout the 2024 NBA playoffs in Boston. He averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the Finals, closing out Dallas with 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
His two-way impact on Luka Doncic’s defense cannot be overstated. He was the Celtics’ strong arm throughout the series, knocking down a clutch jumper late in the fourth quarter to win Game 3.
After finally receiving the recognition he deserved by winning the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, Brown was crowned once again. He is a champion and MVP of the NBA Finals.
2024 Finals MVP voting
Brown received seven Finals MVP votes to Tatum’s four. You can find the full Finals MVP voting results below:
Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown received seven of 11 votes for #NBAFinals MVP of a media panel covering the series. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum received the other four votes.
Complete voting results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/i9g51gD10S
-NBA Communications (@NBAPR) June 18, 2024
Why is the Finals MVP named Bill Russell?
In 2009, then-NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the Finals MVP trophy would be renamed after the player with the most championships in league history – Bill Russell.
“Who better to name this prestigious award than one of the greatest players of all time and the ultimate champion,” Stern said at the time.
The interesting part is that Russell never won the Finals MVP because that award was introduced in 1969, the year he won his last NBA title as a player.
Although Russell’s Celtics beat the Lakers in the championship that season, the late, great Jerry West won the first-ever Finals MVP award after averaging 37.9 points per game in the series. West is still the only player to win the Finals MVP on a losing team.
Complete history of Finals MVP winners
Whoever wins the award will become the sixth player in Celtics history to win Finals MVP. They will join Paul Pierce, Larry Bird (2x), Cedric Maxwell, Jo Jo White and John Havlicek in receiving this legendary honor.
You can find the full list of Finals MVPs below.
| Year | Player | Team |
| 2024 | Jaylen Brown | Boston Celtics |
| 2023 | Nikola Jokic | Denver Nuggets |
| 2022 | Stephen Curry | Warriors of the Golden State |
| 2021 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 2020 | LeBron James | the Los Angeles Lakers |
| 2019 | Kawhi Leonard | Toronto Raptors |
| 2018 | Kevin Durant | Warriors of the Golden State |
| 2017 | Kevin Durant | Warriors of the Golden State |
| 2016 | LeBron James | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 2015 | Andre Iguodala | Warriors of the Golden State |
| 2014 | Kawhi Leonard | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2013 | LeBron James | Miami heat |
| 2012 | LeBron James | Miami heat |
| 2011 | Dirk Nowitzki | Dallas Mavericks |
| 2010 | Kobe Bryant | the Los Angeles Lakers |
| 2009 | Kobe Bryant | the Los Angeles Lakers |
| 2008 | Paul Pierce | Boston Celtics |
| 2007 | Tony Parker | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2006 | Dwyane Wade | Miami heat |
| 2005 | Tim Duncan | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2004 | Chauncey Billups | Detroit Pistons |
| 2003 | Tim Duncan | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2002 | Shaquille O’Neal | the Los Angeles Lakers |
| 2001 | Shaquille O’Neal | the Los Angeles Lakers |
| 2000 | Shaquille O’Neal | the Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1999 | Tim Duncan | San Antonio Spurs |
| 1998 | Michael Jordan | Chicago Bulls |
| 1997 | Michael Jordan | Chicago Bulls |
| 1996 | Michael Jordan | Chicago Bulls |
| 1995 | Hakeem Olajuwon | Houston Rockets |
| 1994 | Hakeem Olajuwon | Houston Rockets |
| 1993 | Michael Jordan | Chicago Bulls |
| 1992 | Michael Jordan | Chicago Bulls |
| 1991 | Michael Jordan | Chicago Bulls |
| 1990 | Isiah Thomas | Detroit Pistons |
| 1989 | Joe Dumars | Detroit Pistons |
| 1988 | James Worthy | the Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1987 | Magic Johnson | the Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1986 | Larry Bird | Boston Celtics |
| 1985 | Kareem Abdul Jabbar | the Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1984 | Larry Bird | Boston Celtics |
| 1983 | Moses Malone | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 1982 | Magic Johnson | the Los Angeles Lakers |
| nineteen eighty one | Cedric Maxwell | Boston Celtics |
| 1980 | Magic Johnson | the Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1979 | Dennis Johnson | Seattle SuperSonics |
| 1978 | Wes Unseld | Washington Bullets |
| 1977 | Bill Walton | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1976 | Jo Jo White | Boston Celtics |
| 1975 | Rick Barry | Warriors of the Golden State |
| 1974 | John Havlicek | Boston Celtics |
| 1973 | Willis Reed | New York Knicks |
| 1972 | Wilt Chamberlain | the Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1971 | Kareem Abdul Jabbar | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 1970 | Willis Reed | New York Knicks |
| 1969 | Jerry West | the Los Angeles Lakers |
