Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won 3 MVP awards over four seasons from 1970-74.
The Bucks have had five regular-season MVP awards as a franchise. That hardware was won by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Let’s take an in-depth look at these five MVP-winning seasons in franchise history.
Lew Alcindor – 1970-71
Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, captured his first MVP award in just his second NBA season. After finishing third in MVP voting as a rookie, Alcindor followed up by averaging 31.7 points, 16.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists across 82 games. This marked the first of four seasons in which he’d average 30+ points, all as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – 1971-72
Before the start of the 1971-72 season, Alcindor adopted the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but his dominance didn’t waver. Playing 81 of 82 games, he secured his second consecutive MVP award while also earning All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive Second Team honors. That year, Abdul-Jabbar posted a career-high 34.8 points per game on 57.4% shooting, alongside 16.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per contest.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – 1973-74
Abdul-Jabbar ended his run of three MVPs in four years at Milwaukee by winning the award in the 1973-74 campaign right after finishing second in the voting in the 1972-73 campaign. The star center, widely considered the most dominant player in the NBA by that time, averaged 27.0 points, 16.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game while appearing in 81 of a possible 82 regular-season games. That would be the final MVP he’d claim as a member of the Bucks, although he’d later won three more as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975-76, 1976-77 and 1979-80.
Giannis Antetokounmpo – 2018-19
Antetokounmpo won the first of his two MVP awards in the 2018-19 season, his sixth year in the league and the third straight campaign in which he finished in the top 7 in the voting. He started in each of his 72 appearances that season and posted an impressive stat line, averaging 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per contest. This was also the third straight season in which he was named an All-Star, although this 2018-19 campaign was his certified jump to superstardom.
Giannis Antetokounmpo – 2019-20
Antetokounmpo’s second MVP came in the 2019-20 season, a campaign that was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and that was decided in the Disney World bubble for the postseason. When it comes to the regular season, though, Antetokounmpo was dominant and not only won the MVP award, but he was also named the Defensive Player of the Year while also earning All-Star honors, an All-NBA First Team and an All-NBA Defensive First Team berth. Antetokounmpo averaged 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game across 63 regular-season contests.
