I decided to use advanced stats(mostly Thinking Basketball Box plus minus for the earlier seasons because nothing else is available)

1979-1980: We start off with a fairly simple one. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem that season put up 23.4 Points per 75(inflation adjusted, all point totals per 75 cited are inflation adjusted) on nearly +11 rTS% and led the league in BPM at 5.9, pretty comfortably.

1980-1981: Julius Erving

25.5 Points per 75 +3.8 rTS% 5.5 BPM

1981-1982: Magic Johnson

17.4 Points per 75 on +5.2 rTS% 6.0 BPM

1982-1983: Magic Johnson

16.7 Points per 75 +7.2 rTS% 5.7 BPM

1983-1984: Larry Bird barely

23.2 Points per 75 +0.9 rTS% 5.9 BPM

1984-1985: Larry Bird

26.3 Points per 75 +4.2 rTS% 7.0 BPM

1985-1986: Larry Bird

24.8 Points per 75 on +3.9 rTS% 6.9 BPM

1986-1987: Magic Johnson barely

23.7 Points per 75 on +6.4 rTS% 8.1 BPM

1987-1988: Michael Jordan

33.4 Points per 75 +6.5 rTS% 8.4 BPM

1988-1989: Michael Jordan

30.6 Points per 75 +7.7 rTS% 8.5 BPM

1989-1990: Michael Jordan barely

32.6 Points per 75 +6.9 rTS% 7.8 BPM

1990-1991: Michael Jordan

32.7 Points per 75 +7.1 rTS% 9.0 BPM

1991-1992: Michael Jordan

30.1 Points per 75 4.8 rTS% 8.3 BPM

1992-1993: Michael Jordan

32.9 Points per 75 +2.8 rTS% 7.2 BPM

1993-1994: David Robinson

30.5 Points per 75 +4.9 rTS% 8.1 BPM

1994-1995: David Robinson

28.1 Points per 75 +5.9 rTS% 6.5 BPM

1995-1996: Michael Jordan

32.6 Points per 75 +4.0 rTS% 7.6 BPM

1996-1997: Karl Malone barely

30.9 Points per 75 +6.4 rTS% 7.2 BPM

1997-1998: Karl Malone

30.6 Points per 75 +7.3 rTS% 6.2 BPM

1998-1999: Karl Malone barely

28.3 Points per 75 +6.6 rTS% 5.4 BPM

1999-2000: Shaquille O’Neal

30.3 Points per 75 +5.5 rTS% 7.3 BPM

2000-2001: Shaquille O’Neal

30.4 Points per 75 +5.6 rTS% 6.2 BPM

2001-2002: Tim Duncan by the barest of barest of barest of margins

26.5 points per 75 +5.6 rTS% 6.5 BPM

2002-2003: Dirk Nowitzki barely

26.7 points per 75 +6.2 rTS% 6.6 BPM

2003-2004: Kevin Garnett

26.6 Points per 75 on +3.1 rTS% 6.9 BPM 100th percentile DAPM

2004-2005: Dirk Nowitzki by the barest of margins

27.1 Points per 75 on +4.9 rTS% 6.1 BPM

2005-2006: Lebron James by the barest of margins

30.6 Points per 75 on +3.3 rTS% 6.2 BPM

2006-2007: Dirk Nowitzki barely.

28.2 Points per 75 on +6.4 rTS% 5.9 BPM

2007-2008: Christ Paul

23 points per 75 on +3.6 rTS% 7.2 BPM

2008-2009: Lebron James by a small margin.

31.1 points per 75 on +4.7 rTS% 8.4 BPM

2009-2010: Lebron James by a massive margin

30.7 Points per 75 on +6.1 rTS% 8.6 BPM

2010-2011: Lebron James by a decent margin

28 points per 75 on +5.3 rTS% 6.9 BPM

2011-2012: Lebron James by a decent margin

30 points per 75 on +7.8 rTS% 7.2 BPM

2012-2013: Lebron James by a decent margin.

29.2 Points per 75 on +10.2 rTS% 8.8 BPM

2013-2014: Kevin Durant by a small margin.

31.0 Points per 75 on +9.2 rTS% 7.3 BPM

2014-2015: Steph Curry by a small margin, but not that small

26.2 Points per 75 on +10.3 rTS% 7.5 BPM

2015-2016: Steph Curry easily.

31.3 Points per 75 on a stunning +12.8 rTS%. 8.8 BPM

2016-2017: Kevin Durant wins by the barest of all margins.

26.9 Points per 75 on +10.2 rTS% 7.9 BPM compared to Harden’s 28.8 Points per 75 on +6.8 rTS% with a 7.8 BPM.

2017-2018: James Harden wins in a landslide.

32.3 Points per 75 on +7.1 rTS% 8.7 BPM

2018-2019: James Harden wins barely.

36.6 Points per 75 on +6.2 rTS% 8.3 BPM

2019-2020: James Harden wins in a really tight race.

33.9 Points per 75 on +7.8 rTS% 7.4 BPM Giannis is 33.2 Points per 75 on +5.2 rTS% 7.3 BPM

2020-2021: Nikola Jokic wins.

28.4 points per 75 on +7.4 rTS% 8.6 BPM.

2021-2022: This is Nikola Jokic comfortably.

29.7 Points per 75 on +9.7 rTS%. 8.6 BPM.

2022-2023: This is Nikola Jokic by a massive landslide once again.

26.5 Points per 75 on insane +12.3 rTS% with insane passing is just too good. 9.0 Box Plus minus, which is a stunning 3.4 above 2nd placed Doncic. For context, that’s the same as from Doncic to Jakob Poeltl.

2023-2024: This is pretty clearly Nikola Jokic again**.**

Jokic had 28.4 Points per 75 on +7.2 rTS% with elite passing and a 9.2 Box plus minus, 1st place by a mile.

Here are the players sorted by appearances:

1. Michael Jordan: 7 (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996)
2. LeBron James: 6 (2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
3. Nikola Jokic: 4 (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
4. Magic Johnson: 4 (1982, 1983, 1987)
5. Larry Bird: 3 (1984, 1985, 1986)
6. Dirk Nowitzki: 3 (2003, 2005, 2007)
7. James Harden: 3 (2018, 2019, 2020)
8. Karl Malone: 3 (1997, 1998, 1999)
9. Shaquille O’Neal: 2 (2000, 2001)
10. David Robinson: 2 (1994, 1995)
11. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 1 (1980)
12. Julius Erving: 1 (1981)
13. Kevin Durant: 2 (2014, 2017)
14. Stephen Curry: 2 (2015, 2016)
15. Tim Duncan: 1 (2002)
16. Kevin Garnett: 1 (2004)
17. Chris Paul: 1 (2008)