Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won 4 NBA MVPs before NBA-ABA merger. Was he really the most valuable player in those 4 seasons, if we compared his MVP seasons to ABA MVP winner in the same season?

Ooh I get to talk about the ABA? That’s always fun.

Yes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the best player even if we combine the two leagues together in the 1970s.

Let’s look at all the MVP awards in both leagues in the 70s:

1970: Willis Reed (NBA) and Spencer Haywood (ABA) – I think if we go by pure stats Haywood was pretty ridiculous in 1970 putting up 30/19 a game however the ABA was also extremely weak in this era. I think this one is actually pretty close between Reed and Haywood. Reed got it more based on his leadership of the Knicks rather than pure stats.

1971: Kareem (NBA) and Mel Daniels (ABA). Kareem was the better player. Daniels is similar to a Reed / Cowens type player. Great player, great rebounder, lots of hustle, tough… but he wasn’t Kareem especially not on offense.

1972: Kareem (NBA) and Artis Gilmore (ABA). While Gilmore is a great rebounder and defender, 1972 Kareem was bonkers and had probably the best year of his career. I’m talking Jokic level stat production (35/16/5) on offense while also playing incredible defense. It’s definitely Kareem.

1973: Dave Cowens (NBA) and Billy Cunningham (ABA). Now this is an interesting one. I think Cunningham was probably the better overall player doing more for his team here putting up 24/12/6 a game while Cowens got the MVP more or less based on him being the star big man on the 68 win Celtics.

1974: Kareem (NBA) and Dr J (ABA). While I love me some ABA Dr J, it’s again Kareem here. Kareem with the Bucks was just a monster on both offense and defense, it’s hard to overstate exactly how good Bucks Kareem was.

1975: Bob McAdoo (NBA) and George McGinnis / Dr J (ABA). So this one had a co-MVP award in the ABA. Offense wise, I think it’s pretty much all a tossup. They were all doing everything for their teams on offense. Defense wise I think Dr J would have the edge here so overall I might take Dr J over McGinnis and McAdoo.

1976: Kareem (NBA) and Dr J (ABA). Now stats wise I think it’s close between Dr J and Kareem here – but I think based on team impact Dr J might actually have the edge since Kareem’s Lakers didn’t make the playoffs.. and Dr J won the ABA championship that year. So this one I might actually take Dr J by a hair.

Even if we combined the two leagues together I think Kareem would still win 3 out of his 4 MVPs before the merger. The only year he might have lost it is to 1976 Dr J (Dr J’s best year of his career)

Reed, Cowens and McAdoo are the ones who’s legacy might be more damaged if the MVP award was shared between leagues.