New Zealand NBL Finals Most Valuable Player Award

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The National Basketball League Finals Most Valuable Player is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award currently given to the best performing player over the finals or grand final. The award has previously been known as Final MVP, Final Four MVP and Grand Final MVP.

Contents

The origin of the award began with a "Final MVP" that was awarded between 2004 and 2006. Between 2008 and 2012, a "Finals MVP" was awarded to the best player of the best-of-three championship round (2008–10) and then the best player of the Final Four weekend (2011–12). A "Final Four MVP" was introduced for 2013 and 2014 before a switch back to Finals MVP every year between 2015 and 2018. Every year between 2019 and 2024, a "Grand Final MVP" was awarded. In 2025, a "Finals MVP" was awarded.

Winners

Denotes players that also won the regular season MVP that season.

Final MVP (2004–06)

YearPlayerNationalityTeamRef
2004 Aaron Olson Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Auckland Stars [1]
2005 Dillon Boucher Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Auckland Stars [2]
2006 Paora Winitana Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Hawke's Bay Hawks [3]

Finals MVP (2008–12)

YearPlayerNationalityTeamRef
2008 Puke Lenden Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Waikato Pistons [4] [5] [6]
2009 Justin Bailey Flag of the United States.svg United States Waikato Pistons [7] [8]
2010 Lindsay Tait Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Wellington Saints [9]
2011 Lindsay Tait (2)Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Wellington Saints [10] [11]
2012 Alex Pledger Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Auckland Pirates [12] [13]

Final Four MVP (2013–14)

YearPlayerNationalityTeamRef
2013 Leon Henry Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Southland Sharks [14]
2014 Lindsay Tait (3)Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Wellington Saints [15]

Finals MVP (2015–18)

YearPlayerNationalityTeamRef
2015 Tai Wesley Flag of Guam.svg Guam Southland Sharks [16] [17]
2016 Tai Wesley (2)Flag of Guam.svg Guam Wellington Saints [17] [18]
2017 Shea Ili Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Wellington Saints [19]
2018 Reuben Te Rangi Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Southland Sharks [20] [21]

Grand Final MVP (2019–24)

YearPlayerNationalityTeamRef
2019 Thomas Abercrombie Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Wellington Saints [22] [23]
2020 Jordan Hunt Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Otago Nuggets [24]
2021 Kerwin Roach Flag of the United States.svg United States Wellington Saints [25] [26]
2022 Keith Williams Flag of the United States.svg United States Otago Nuggets [27]
2023 Tevin Brown Flag of the United States.svg United States Canterbury Rams [28] [29]
2024 Lachlan Olbrich Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia Canterbury Rams [30] [31]

Finals MVP (2025–)

YearPlayerNationalityTeamRef
2025 Hyrum Harris Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Wellington Saints [32] [33]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2004 National Basketball League". Basketball.org.nz. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012.
  2. ↑ "2005 National Basketball League". Basketball.org.nz. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "2006 National Basketball League". Basketball.org.nz. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013.
  4. ↑ "Pistons Pride!". Basketball.org.nz. 20 June 2008. Archived from the original on 23 June 2008.
  5. ↑ "Ultimate Role Guy Takes MVP". Basketball.org.nz. 21 June 2008. Archived from the original on 23 June 2008.
  6. ↑ "LENDEN SURPRISED AT MVP". SkySport.co.nz. 21 June 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2015. ...to join Dillon Boucher, Aaron Olson and Paora Winitana as Finals MVPs.[ dead link ]
  7. ↑ Anderson, Ian (26 June 2009). "Piston power socks it to Nelson". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009.
  8. ↑ "Basketball: Pistons clinch NBL series". nzherald.co.nz. 26 June 2009. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012.
  9. ↑ Worthington, Sam (2 July 2010). "Wellington Saints march to NBL championship". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 5 July 2010.
  10. ↑ Preston, Scott (17 July 2011). "Wellington Saints repeat as NBL champions". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015.
  11. ↑ Preston, Scott (18 July 2011). "Pirates loss wake-up call for champion Saints". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
  12. ↑ "Live blog: National Basketball League final". Stuff.co.nz. 27 May 2012. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012.
  13. ↑ "VIDEO: Auckland Pirates win Kiwi NBL title". Newshub . 27 May 2012. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.
  14. ↑ Worthington, Sam (14 July 2013). "Hungry Sharks claim unlikely NBL title". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 25 December 2013.
  15. ↑ Worthington, Sam (5 July 2014). "It's eight for Saints in victory over Bay Hawks". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014.
  16. ↑ "Craig wins MVP". Basketball.org.nz. 6 July 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Wesley was very close to having the perfect season winning the title last night and Finals Most Valuable Player.
  17. 1 2 Hyslop, Liam (15 June 2017). "Tai Wesley primed for another NBL final four campaign". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020.
  18. ↑ "Moore takes out NBL MVP". Basketball.org.nz. 8 June 2016. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. After leading the Saints to their ninth NBL title, forward Tai Wesley won Finals Most Valuable Player...
  19. ↑ "Saints create history claiming their tenth title". Basketball.org.nz. 17 June 2017. Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Ili would be named Finals Most Valuable Player...
  20. ↑ Anderson, Niall (5 August 2018). "Basketball: Southland Sharks beat Wellington Saints in superb final to win NBL title". nzherald.co.nz. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Te Rangi picked the perfect time for his best game of the season, dropping 26 points on his way to the Finals MVP award...
  21. ↑ "REUBEN TE RANGI | 2018". nz.basketball. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. In 2018 he led the Southland Sharks to the Sal's National Basketball League title and was named Finals MVP...
  22. ↑ Smith, Tony (21 July 2019). "Wellington Saints claim 11th NBL title with stunning comeback win over Hawks". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  23. ↑ Singh, Anendra (21 July 2019). "Basketball: Wellington Saints claw back to end Hawks' fairy-tale Final 4 run for 11th NBL title". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  24. ↑ "NUGGETS STRIKE GOLD IN SAL'S NBL SHOWDOWN". nznbl.basketball. 1 August 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  25. ↑ "Your Sal's NBL Grand Final MVP for 2021 is..." twitter.com/nznbl. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  26. ↑ "Wellington Saints continue NBL dominance with grand final win over Hawke's Bay Hawks". Stuff.co.nz. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021. ...with grand final MVP Kerwin Roach Jnr (16 points and seven rebounds)...
  27. ↑ "NUGGETS DOWN TUATARA TO CLAIM 2022 SAL'S NBL TITLE". nznbl.basketball. 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  28. ↑ "CANTERBURY RAMS CROWNED 2023 SAL'S NBL CHAMPIONS". nznbl.basketball. 23 July 2023. Archived from the original on 23 July 2023.
  29. ↑ "Grand Final MVP Tevin Brown". facebook.com/NZNBL. 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  30. ↑ "CANTERBURY RAMS ARE BACK-TO-BACK SAL'S NBL CHAMPIONS". nznbl.basketball. 28 July 2024. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024.
  31. ↑ "Lachlan Olbrich 2024 Grand Final MVP". facebook.com/NZNBL. 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  32. ↑ "Congratulations to the Saints!! For the first time since 2021, the Wellington Saints are back on top of the Sal's NBL!". facebook.com/NZNBL. 20 July 2025. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  33. ↑ Egan, Brendon (20 July 2025). "Hyrum Harris shines as Wellington Saints capture NBL title No 13". thepost.co.nz. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
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