The National Basketball League Championship Series Most Valuable Player, formerly known as the Grand Final MVP, is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the league's inaugural season to the best performing player of the Championship Series. The winner receives the Larry Sengstock Medal, which is named in honour of Larry Sengstock, the winner of the league's first Grand Final MVP award. The league named the award after Sengstock in 1999.
Between 1979 and 2022, the single game or series was known as the NBL Grand Final. With the league's change in finals format in 2023, the grand final name was replaced by Championship Series. Derrick Walton of the Sydney Kings won the first Championship Series MVP in 2023. In 2025, Matthew Dellavedova of Melbourne United became just the second player after Ricky Grace in 1993 to win the Championship Series MVP from the losing side.
Winners Denotes players that won the award on the losing team.
Year Player Nationality Team 1979 Larry Sengstock St. Kilda Saints 1980 Rocky Smith St. Kilda Saints 1981 Cliff Martin Launceston Casino City 1982 Leroy Loggins West Adelaide Bearcats 1983 Phil Smyth Canberra Cannons 1984 N/A N/A N/A 1985 N/A N/A N/A 1986 Mark Davis Adelaide 36ers 1987 Leroy Loggins (2) Brisbane Bullets 1988 Phil Smyth (2) Canberra Cannons 1989 Scott Fisher North Melbourne Giants 1990 Ricky Grace Perth Wildcats 1991 Peter Hansen Perth Wildcats 1992 Bruce Bolden South East Melbourne Magic 1993Ricky Grace (2) Perth Wildcats 1994 Paul Rees North Melbourne Giants 1995 Andrew Vlahov Perth Wildcats 1996 Mike Kelly South East Melbourne Magic 1997 Lanard Copeland Melbourne Tigers 1998 Kevin Brooks Adelaide 36ers 1999 Brett Maher Adelaide 36ers 2000 Marcus Timmons Perth Wildcats 2001 Glen Saville Wollongong Hawks 2002 Brett Maher (2) Adelaide 36ers 2003 Chris Williams Sydney Kings 2004 Matthew Nielsen Sydney Kings 2005 Jason Smith Sydney Kings 2006 Chris Anstey Melbourne Tigers 2007 Sam Mackinnon Brisbane Bullets 2008 Chris Anstey (2) Melbourne Tigers 2009 Donta Smith South Dragons 2010 Kevin Lisch Perth Wildcats 2011 Thomas Abercrombie New Zealand Breakers 2012 C. J. Bruton New Zealand Breakers 2013 Cedric Jackson New Zealand Breakers 2014 Jermaine Beal Perth Wildcats 2015 Cedric Jackson (2) New Zealand Breakers 2016 Damian Martin Perth Wildcats 2017 Bryce Cotton Perth Wildcats 2018 Chris Goulding Melbourne United 2019 Terrico White Perth Wildcats 2020 Bryce Cotton (2) Perth Wildcats 2021 Jock Landale Melbourne United 2022 Xavier Cooks Sydney Kings 2023 Derrick Walton Sydney Kings 2024 Jack McVeigh Tasmania JackJumpers 2025Matthew Dellavedova Melbourne United 2026 Kendric Davis Sydney Kings
See also
WNBL Grand Final Most Valuable Player Award
References