Duncan totaled 954 points and received 57 first-place votes to outdistance the New Jersey Nets’ Jason Kidd who collected 897 points and 45 first-place votes. The 57-point difference was the fifth-closest vote since the NBA went to media voting for the 1980-81 season. The Los Angeles Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal finished third with 696 points and 15 first-place votes while the Orlando Magic’s Tracy McGrady stood fourth with 390 points and seven first-place votes.

MVP Photo Gallery NBA Store: Get your MVP T-Shirt! MVP News Conference: 56k | 300k In his MVP season, Duncan ranked in the NBA’s top 10 in five major statistical categories. Andrew D. Bernstein NBAE/Getty Images

Duncan led the Spurs to 58 wins en route to their third Midwest Division title during his five-year NBA career. He was the second San Antonio Spurs player to win the MVP, joining teammate David Robinson who captured the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the MVP for the 1994-95 season.

After averaging 25.5 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.48 blocks in 82 games this season, Duncan was selected to the All-NBA First Team for the fifth consecutive season, becoming just the sixth player in NBA history to be named First Team in each of his first five seasons. He joins this elite club of Elgin Baylor, Larry Bird, George Mikan, Bob Pettit and Oscar Robertson.

During the 2001-02 season, Duncan ranked in the NBA’s top ten in five major statistical categories (fifth in scoring, second in rebounding, third in blocks, ninth in FG percentage and sixth in minutes played). He also led the NBA in field goals made, free throws made and double-doubles with 67.

Duncan became only the fifth player since 1972-73 to rank in the top five for one season in scoring, rebounding and blocks – joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal.

A six-time recipient of the NBA’s Western Conference Player of the Week Award and three-time winner of the NBA’s Western Conference Player of the Month Award this season, Duncan scored 30 or more points 20 times and 20 or more 72 times during the 2001-02 season. He posted his career-high 53 points on Dec. 26 vs. the Dallas Mavericks.

Voted by fans to start in this year’s All-Star Game, Duncan played in his fourth midseason classic, scoring 14 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in a 135-120 West victory on Feb. 10 at Philadelphia’s First Union Center.

Duncan won the Podoloff Trophy after finishing four previous times in the top five of the MVP voting – finishing second last season, third in 1998-99 and fifth in 1997-98 and 1999-2000.

Along with the 2001-02 MVP Award, Duncan has also collected the 1997-98 Rookie of the Year, the 1999 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, the co-MVP of the 2000 NBA All-Star Game and the 2001-02 NBA IBM Award during his NBA career.

The 126-member voting panel consisted of 39 national media members and three media members who regularly cover each of the NBA’s 29 teams. Media voted for five MVP candidates in order of preference. Points were awarded on a 10-7-5-3-1 basis.

The MVP trophy is named in honor of the late Maurice Podoloff, the first commissioner of the NBA who served from 1946 until his retirement in 1963.

2001-02 MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD VOTING RESULTS

Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Pts
Tim Duncan	San Antonio	57	38	20	5	3	954
Jason Kidd	New Jersey	45	41	26	9	3	897
Shaquille O'Neal	L.A. Lakers	15	38	40	25	5	696
Tracy McGrady	Orlando	7	5	28	45	10	390
Kobe Bryant	L.A. Lakers	1	1	4	15	16	98
Gary Payton	Seattle	1	1	1	5	17	54
Chris Webber	Sacramento	0	1	1	5	10	37
Dirk Nowitzki	Dallas	0	0	1	4	14	31
Allen Iverson	Philadelphia	0	0	1	4	12	29
Ben Wallace	Detroit	0	0	2	8	8	24
Paul Pierce	Boston	0	0	1	1	14	22
Kevin Garnett	Minnesota	0	0	0	3	8	17
Michael Jordan	Washington	0	1	1	1	1	16
Steve Nash	Dallas	0	0	0	1	2	5
Jerry Stackhouse	Detroit	0	0	0	1	0	3
Elton Brand	L.A. Clippers	0	0	0	0	1	1
Mike Bibby	Sacramento	0	0	0	0	1	1
Predrag Stojakovic	Sacramento	0	0	0	0	1	1

ALL-TIME MOST VALUABLE PLAYER WINNERS

1955-56 Bob Pettit, St. Louis 1956-57 Bob Cousy, Boston 1957-58 Bill Russell, Boston 1958-59 Bob Pettit, St. Louis 1959-60 Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia 1960-61 Bill Russell, Boston 1961-62 Bill Russell, Boston 1962-63 Bill Russell, Boston 1963-64 Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati 1964-65 Bill Russell, Boston 1965-66 Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia 1966-67 Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia 1967-68 Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia 1968-69 Wes Unseld, Baltimore 1969-70 Willis Reed, New York 1970-71 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee 1971-72 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee 1972-73 Dave Cowens, Boston 1973-74 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee 1974-75 Bob McAdoo, Buffalo 1975-76 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A.Lakers 1976-77 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A.Lakers 1977-78 Bill Walton, Portland

1978-79 Moses Malone, Houston 1979-80 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A. Lakers 1980-81 Julius Erving, Philadelphia 1981-82 Moses Malone, Houston 1982-83 Moses Malone, Philadelphia 1983-84 Larry Bird, Boston 1984-85 Larry Bird, Boston 1985-86 Larry Bird, Boston 1986-87 Magic Johnson, L.A. Lakers 1987-88 Michael Jordan, Chicago 1988-89 Magic Johnson, L.A. Lakers 1989-90 Magic Johnson, L.A. Lakers 1990-91 Michael Jordan, Chicago 1991-92 Michael Jordan, Chicago 1992-93 Charles Barkley, Phoenix 1993-94 Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston 1994-95 David Robinson, San Antonio 1995-96 Michael Jordan, Chicago 1996-97 Karl Malone, Utah 1997-98 Michael Jordan, Chicago 1998-99 Karl Malone, Utah 1999-00 Shaquille O’Neal, L.A. Lakers 2000-01 Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 2001-02 Tim Duncan, San Antonio

CLOSEST MOST VALUABLE PLAYER VOTES
(Player, Team, Points, First-Place Votes)

1989-90 (22-point difference)
Magic Johnson, L.A. Lakers, 636, 27
Charles Barkley, Philadelphia, 614, 38

1996-97 (29-point difference)
Karl Malone, Utah, 986, 63
Michael Jordan, Chicago, 957, 52

1980-81 (31-point difference)
Julius Erving, Philadelphia, 454, 28
Larry Bird, Boston, 423, 20

1998-99 (54-point difference)
Karl Malone, Utah, 827, 44
Alonzo Mourning, Miami, 773, 36

2001-02 (57-point difference)
Tim Duncan, San Antonio, 954, 57
Jason Kidd, New Jersey, 897, 45