The NBA has expanded its roster of individual player accolades in the past decade. Most recently, in 2023, the league introduced the Clutch Player of the Year award. LeBron James proposed that the NBA could gain from a new honor similar to the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year trophy. The NBA has yet to implement such an award, as the MVP is traditionally awarded to standout offensive players.

Selection criteria for the MVP award seem to shift annually, with team performance often influencing the awarding of the title. Adding a new trophy might streamline what is currently a subjective nature of selection.

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“I did think about how the NFL does Offensive Player of the Year and MVP,” James stated during the ‘Mind the Game’ podcast alongside Steve Nash. “I thought that could possibly be something in our league, where you give an Offensive Player of the Year and an MVP. Not saying we should do it, but it was something that was pretty cool in the NFL how they do that.”

During the 2024-25 season, the MVP was awarded to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had an impressive campaign with the Oklahoma City Thunder, leading the team to a remarkable 68-14 record. The Thunder triumphed over the Indiana Pacers to claim the championship title.

LeBron pointed out, “It changes,” regarding the MVP selection process. “Is it the best player? Is it the player that had the best season with his team? Maybe that’s Offensive Player of the Year. Or is it just simply the best player in the league? Obviously you’re not going to have a guy in there that the team didn’t come close to making the playoffs. If that’s the case, then he’s not the most valuable then. I don’t know. It just changes too much.”

Since its inception in 1983, the Defensive Player of the Year award has existed in the NBA, but an offensive-specific award remains absent. The IBM Award, which measured a player’s contribution via statistical analysis, was perhaps the closest equivalent.

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“You could be on a poor team, have an unbelievable offensive year and still win Offensive Player of the Year,” Nash commented. “And vice versa; you could maybe not have the best year in the league, but you were the most valuable in taking your team to a new height.”