Most valuable player - wikipedia Most valuable player `` MVP '' redirects here. For the documentary film, see Most Valuable Players ( film ). For other uses, see MVP ( disambiguation ). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2007 ) Elmer Lach with the original Hart Memorial Trophy in 1945 In sports, a most valuable player ( MVP ) award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best - performing player ( or players ) in an entire league, for a particular competition, or on a specific team. Initially used in professional sports, the term is now also commonly used in amateur sports, as well as in other completely unrelated fields such as business and music. In many sports, MVP awards are presented for a specific match -- in other words, a man of the match award. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In other cases, `` player of the year '' is used. In Australia, Australian rules football clubs and leagues use the term `` best and fairest '', while those playing rugby league use `` player of the year '', such as the Dally M Medal. The National Basketball League, however, uses the American - style `` MVP '' for its awards. Insofar as there is a distinction between an MVP and a player of the year, a `` player of the year '' describes the greatest individual talent, while a `` most valuable player '' is a person most responsible for their team 's success. In many cases the awards are voted on by members of the media. In others the vote is by players, coaches, or umpires. In recent years, online polls from the public decide some awards. Sports Specific examples include : Major League Baseball 's American and National Leagues, AL & NL Championship Series, and World Series ; also All - Star Game National Football League regular season and Super Bowl ; also Pro Bowl Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson / Ted Lindsay Award ( National Hockey League regular season ) and Conn Smythe Trophy ( playoffs ) ; the All - Star Game also has an MVP National Basketball Association regular season and Finals ; also NBA All - Star Game Major League Soccer regular season and MLS Cup FIVB Tournaments Canadian Football League regular season, East Division, West Division, and Grey Cup ; also `` Most Valuable Canadian '' awards for the regular season and Grey Cup College football 's Heisman Trophy NCAA Basketball Tournament ; there are also various awards for the player ( s ) selected as player of the year Indian Premier League National Basketball League regular season and Grand Final Leigh Matthews Trophy, given by the AFL Players Association to the AFL 's most valuable player ( as opposed to the Brownlow Medal, given to the fairest and best ) Philippine Basketball Association regular season See also Best and fairest Athlete of the Year Man of the match Player of the year award Most Outstanding Player ( disambiguation ) References Jump up ^ Dally M Medal 2015 Jump up ^ Most valuable player in IPL This article includes a list of sports related pages with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific sport article referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended sport article, if one exists. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Most_valuable_player&oldid=813416567 '' Categories : Set indices on sports Most valuable player awards Sports competitors Sports trophies and awards Terminology used in multiple sports Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from August 2007 All articles needing additional references All set index articles Talk About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca Български Català Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Latviešu Magyar Norsk Polski Português Русский Simple English Svenska ไทย Türkçe Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 3 December 2017, at 16 : 15. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what does it mean to be the most valuable player
Answer: best-performing player