page_title: List of American Basketball Association awards and honors
section_title: Most Valuable Player
hierarchical_section_title: List of American Basketball Association awards and honors / Awards / Most Valuable Player
caption_attribution_description: English: Professional basketball player Connie Hawkins with the American Basketball Association Most Valuble Player Award for the 1967–68 season.
context_page_description: The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league that operated from the 1967–68 season until it ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. The ABA presented a variety of annual awards and honors to recognize its players and executives.
  There were six awards presented by the ABA. Three Most Valuable Player awards were presented annually in the All-Star Game, the regular season, and the playoffs. In sports, the player judged to be the most important to the team is the Most Valuable Player. Other annual awards include the Executive of the Year, the Coach of the Year, and the Rookie of the Year. Honors were also presented to players who excelled in the respective categories of: best players, best defensive players, and best rookies. The Executive of the Year Award and the All-Defensive Team started in the 1972–73 season, while the rest started in the first season. Julius Erving has won the most ABA awards with five MVP awards—three in the regular season and two in the playoffs. Artis Gilmore has won the most ABA honors with nine. A total of 80 ABA players and executives have received at least one award or honor.
context_section_description: The Most Valuable Player (MVP) was an annual award first awarded in the 1967–68 season. Every player who has won the award has played for a team with at least 45 regular-season wins. The inaugural award winner was Hall of Famer Connie Hawkins. Hall of Famer Julius Erving won the award three times, all with the New York Nets. Mel Daniels won it twice with the Indiana Pacers. Erving and George McGinnis were joint winners in the 1974–75 season. Seven of the award winners were capable of playing forward, while six were capable of playing center. Two rookies have won the award: Spencer Haywood in the 1969–70 season and Artis Gilmore in the 1971–72 season. With the announcement of McGinnis as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2017, every ABA MVP has been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
caption: Connie Hawkins holding the 1968 ABA MVP Trophy
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