It’s not a secret that forwards dominate the NBA right now. Big men aren’t as dominant as they were in the 90s and 2000s. Point guards are still relevant, but to win, a team must have a forward that can take over a game and lead them to the victory.
The biggest proof of that is that the last four All-Star Game and Finals MVP winners are all forward. Curiously, the last player who won the ASG MVP also got the Finals MVP.
NBA Uncovered shared this interesting fact on Instagram, recalling that Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo won the ASG and Finals MVP in the last four years.
In the first two years of this streak, the All-Star Game MVP succumbed to the eventual Finals MVP. Starting in 2018, LeBron James took home the All-Star Game MVP award. A couple of months later, Kevin Durant would defeat the King in the Finals to win his second straight FMVP award.
Durantula won the ASG MVP one year later before Kawhi Leonard beat the Golden State Warriors in the memorable 2019 Finals. Kawhi would win the ASG MVP the next season. Still, it was LeBron who won the championship and FMVP in the infamous Orlando bubble.
This year, Giannis Antetokounmpo became the only one who won these two awards in the same season. He put up a show in the 2021 All-Star Game in Atlanta, beating Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard for the MVP award.
Then, a couple of months later, he finished a terrific playoff run with the Milwaukee Bucks, dominating the Phoenix Suns in the Finals, winning his first championship in six games.
This is a big proof that forwards are the most important player on a championship team. Of course, we see other stars like Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and more leading their teams in the league, but guards (and even centers) aren’t at the same level as forwards right now.
