NBA Curiosities: NBA Season MVPs Who Were Traded

Here you have data about all the players that were traded by their teams after they won the season MVP award.

The Minnesota Timberwolves decided to trade the best player in their history: Kevin Garnett, who left the city as a 10-time All-Star, 2003-04 MVP, and holding franchise records for points (19,041), rebounds (10,542), assists (4,146), blocked shots (1,576), steals (1,282), and games played (927).

If you read that an NBA team has traded an MVP-caliber player, the first thing you think is that the player is declining or the team is trying to get some value in return before he becomes useless. But that's usually not the case.

Of the 28 players who have won NBA Most Valuable Player awards, 9 have been traded by the team they were playing for when they won it. Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone and Shaquille O'Neal were in this situation twice each. This is the complete list and includes what happened with them in their new teams. Although there are some exceptions (like Cowens) it is clear that some of the most unbalanced trades in NBA history include MVPs (Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, Malone, Shaq). Trading your MVP is usually a bad idea.

All the MVPs Who were traded by the teams they won their award with.

Wilt Chamberlain
	Trade data:		With the new team:
	From: San Francisco Warriors	To: Philadelphia 76ers	1 Championship: 1967 3 MVPs 1966, 1967, 1968 2 Scoring Titles 1965, 1966 3 Times Rebounds Leader 1966, 1967, 1968 1 Time Assists Leader 1968 3 Times All-Star 1966, 1967, 1968 3 Times All-NBA 1st Team 1966, 1967, 1968
	Date: Jan 15, 1965 Traded For: Paul Neumann, Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer and cash Player Age: 28 MVP: 1960
Wilt Chamberlain
	Trade data:		With the new team:
	From: Philadelphia 76ers	To: Los Angeles Lakers	1 Championship: 1972 1 Finals MVP 1972 4 Times Rebounds Leader 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973 4 Times All-Star 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973 1 Time All-NBA 2nd Team 1972 2 Times All-Defense 1st Team 1972, 1973 3 Times best Field Goal % 1969, 1972, 1973
	Date: 1968 Traded For: Darrall Imhoff, Archie Clark and Jerry Chambers Player Age: 31 MVP: 1966, 1967, 1968
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
	Trade data:		With the new team:
	From: Milwaukee Bucks	To: Los Angeles Lakers	5 Championships 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988 3 MVPs 1976, 1977, 1980 1 Finals MVP 1985 1 Time Rebounds Leader 1976 3 Times Blocks Leader 1976, 1979, 1980 13 Times All-Star 1976, 1977, 1979 to 1989 6 Times All-NBA 1st Team 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984
	Date: 1975 Traded For: Elmore Smith, guard Brian Winters and forwards Dave Meyers and Junior Bridgeman Player Age: 28 MVP: 1971, 1972, 1974
Allen Iverson
	Trade data:		With the new team:
	From: Philadelphia 76ers	To: Denver Nuggets	2006-07: 7th in points per game and steals per game, 9th in assists per game
	Date: midseason 2006-07 Traded For: Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first-round picks Player Age: 31 MVP: 2001
Shaquille O'Neal
	Trade data:		With the new team:
	From: Los Angeles Lakers	To: Miami Heat	1 Championship 2005 2 Times best Field Goal % 2005, 2006 3 Times All-Star 2005, 2006, 2007 2 Times All-NBA 1st Team 2005, 2006
	Date: July 2004 Traded For: Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and two draft picks Player Age: 32 MVP: 2000
Shaquille O'Neal
	Trade data:		With the new team:
	From: Miami Heat	To: Phoenix Suns	not much yet
	Date: February 2008 Traded For: Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks Player Age: 35 MVP: 2000
Moses Malone
	Trade data:		With the new team:
	From: Houston Rockets	To: Philadelphia 76ers	1 Championship 1983 1 MVP 1983 1 Finals MVP 1983 3 Times Rebounds Leader 1983, 1984, 1985 3 Times All-Star 1983, 1985, 1986 2 Times All-NBA 1st Team 1983, 1985 1 Time All-Defense 1st Team 1983
	Date: September 1982 Traded For: Caldwell Jones and a first-round draft pick. Player Age: 27 MVP: 1979, 1982
Moses Malone
	Trade data:		With the new team:
	From: Philadelphia 76ers	To: Washington Bullets	2 Times All-Star 1987, 1988 1 Time All-NBA 2nd Team 1987 Averaged 22.1 ppg and 11.2 rpg in 2 seasons with the Bullets
	Date: 1986 Traded For: (Moses Malone, Terry Catledge and two first-round draft choices) for Jeff Ruland and Cliff Robinson. Player Age: 31 MVP: 1983
Bob McAdoo
	Trade data:		With the new team:
	From: Buffalo Braves	To: New York Knicks	2 Times All-Star 1977, 1978 In 171 games with the Knicks he averaged 26.6 ppg, 12 rpg and 3.3 apg. A couple of years later he won 2 titles with the Showtime Lakers
	Date: midseason 1976-77 Traded For: John Gianelli and cash Player Age: 25 MVP: 1975
Dave Cowens
	Trade data:		With the new team:
	From: Boston Celtics	To: Milwaukee Bucks	Cowens had been retired for two years when the Celtics traded him basically because he wanted to play for the Bucks. After averaging 8.1 points in 40 games he retired for good
	Date: 1982 Traded For: Quinn Buckner Player Age: 34 MVP: 1973
Oscar Robertson
	Trade data:		With the new team:
	From: Cincinnati Royals	To: Milwaukee Bucks	1 Championship 1971 3 Times Top 10 in Assists pg 1971, 1973, 1974 2 Times All-Star 1971, 1972 3 Times All-NBA 2nd Team 1971
	Date: April 1970 Traded For: Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk Player Age: 31 MVP: 1964
Kevin Garnett
	Trade data:		With the new team:
	From: Minnesota Timberwolves	To: Boston Celtics	1 Championship 2008 Defensive Player of the Year 2008 Once All-Star 2008 All-NBA 1st Team 2008 All-Defensive 1st Team 2008 In his first season in Boston Garnett won the Defensive Player of the year award and teamed up with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to take the Celtics to their 17th Championship, the first in 22 years.
	Date: before the 2007-08 season Traded For: Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, two first-round draft picks and cash. Player Age: 31 MVP: 2004

Note that Bill Walton is not included here because he was traded by the Clippers but he won the MVP playing for the Blazers. Also Charles Barkley and Steve Nash were dealt before their MVP seasons.