There are a number of ways to measure greatness when it comes to NBA basketball, and when it comes to the Boston Celtics, the storied franchise is usually at the forefront of any such accounting. So it should not surprise one to see a very healthy contingent of Celtics alumni in HoopsHype’s ranking of every player who ever received a vote for the coveted seasonal hardware that has most recently been renamed the Michael Jordan Most Valuable Player award.
In fact, there are 36 players who have donned the green and white on the list of NBA icons ranked by the number of seasons they received votes for MVP for at least two seasons.
Let’s take a look at who came in where in the assessment.
No. 182 – Rasheed Wallace – two seasons
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
14th: 2008
16th: 1999
No. 181 – Paul Silas – two seasons
Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports
14th: 1972, 1976
No. 171 – WIllie Naulls – two seasons
C/O Bryna Jones
12th: 1960
16th: 1961
No. 170 – Joe Johnson – two seasons
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
12th: 2010
15th: 2012
No. 169 – Clyde Lovellette – two seasons
(AP Photo)
12th: 1958
13th: 1961
No. 168 – Jo Jo White – two seasons
(Photo by Frank O’Brien/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
11th: 1977
20th: 1976
No. 161 – Ray Allen – two seasons
(AP Photo/John Raoux)
9th: 2005
11th: 2001
No. 153 – Rajon Rondo – two seasons
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
8th: 2012
10th: 2011
No. 149 – Tom Heinsohn – two seasons
(AP Photo).
7th: 1961
10th: 1960
No. 145 – Paul Westphal – two seasons
(AP Photo)
6th: 1978
24th: 1976
No. 141 – Jayson Tatum – two seasons
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
6th: 2022
12th: 2020
No. 136 – Bill Sharman – two seasons
(AP Photo)
5th: 1956
7th: 1958
No. 128 – Michael Finley – three seasons
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
13th: 2000
15th: 2001
18th: 1998
No. 127 – Sidney Wicks – three seasons
(AP Photo)
12th: 1975
16th: 1973
17th: 1972
No. 105 – Sam Jones – three seasons
Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports Network
4th: 1965
5th: 1966
9th: 1964
No. 104 – Kevin McHale – three seasons
Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images
4th: 1987
13th: 1986
19th: 1991
No. 100 – Blake Griffin – three seasons
(Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
3rd: 2014
8th: 2015
10th: 2011
No. 97 – Bill Walton – three seasons
(AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)
1st: 1978
2nd: 1977
24th: 1976
No. 90 – Artis Gilmore – four seasons
(AP Photo/Jim Gerberich)
8th: 1978, 1983
10th: 1977
22nd: 1981
No. 82 – Dennis Johnson – four seasons
(Dick Raphael-USA TODAY Sports)
5th: 1980
8th: 1981
18th: 1986
21st: 1982
No. 82 – Chauncey Billups – four seasons
(AP Photo/Scott Audette)
5th: 2006
6th: 2009
11th: 2007
12th: 2010
No. 75 – Bob McAdoo – four seasons
JOHN MOTTERN/AFP via Getty Images
1st: 1975
2nd: 1974, 1976
10th: 1978
No. 73 – Paul Pierce – five seasons
(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
7th: 2009
11th: 2002, 2003
13th: 2001
14th: 2008
No. 66 – Robert Parish – five seasons
(Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)
4th: 1982
7th: 1981
11th: 1989
12th: 1987
14th: 1991
No. 62 – Pete Maravich – five seasons
(AP Photo)
3rd: 1977
15th: 1976
17th: 1974
19th: 1973
21st: 1972
No. 60 – Dave Bing – five seasons
(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
3rd: 1971
4th: 1968
6th: 1976
11th: 1974
19th: 1973
No. 56 – Dave Cowens – five seasons
Dick Raphael/NBAE/Getty Images)
1st: 1973
2nd: 1975
3rd: 1976
4th: 1974
7th: 1972
No. 51 – Tiny Archibald – six seasons
(AP Photo/Files)
3rd: 1973
5th: 1980
6th: 1975
9th: 1976, 1981
15th: 1972
No. 39 – Dominique Wilkins – seven seasons
JOHN MOTTERN/AFP via Getty Images
2nd: 1986
5th: 1987, 1993
6th: 1988
8th: 1991
11th: 1994
17th: 1985
No. 36 – John Havlicek – eight seasons
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Network.
4th: 1972
5th: 1973
6th: 1971
7th: 1975
9th: 1974
10th: 1963, 1970
24th: 1976
No. 35 – Gary Payton – eight seasons
(AP Photo/Gregory Smith)
3rd: 1998
6th: 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002
9th: 1995, 1999
No. 31 – Bob Cousy – eight seasons
Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports
1st: 1957
3rd: 1956
4th: 1959, 1960
6th: 1958, 1961
8th: 1962, 1963
No. 21 – Kevin Garnett – 10 seasons
Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports
1st: 2004
2nd: 2000, 2003
3rd: 2008
5th: 2001
9th: 2007
10th: 1999
11th: 2005
12th: 2002, 2013
No. 10 – Larry Bird – 12 seasons
MPS-USA TODAY Sports
1st: 1984, 1985, 1986
2nd: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988
3rd: 1987
4th: 1980
9th: 1991
10th: 1990
14th: 1992
No. 9 – Bill Russell – 12 seasons
(Charles Hoff/NY Daily News via Getty Images)
1st: 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965
2nd: 1959, 1960
3rd: 1964, 1967
4th: 1966, 1969
7th: 1957
No. 5 – Shaquille O’Neal: 14 seasons
Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
1st: 2000
2nd: 1995, 2005
3rd: 2001, 2002
4th: 1994, 1998
5th: 2003
6th: 1999, 2004
7th: 1993
9th: 1996, 1997
12th: 2007
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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire
