2018 NBA Finals MVP: Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors)

The 2018 NBA Finals MVP was Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors. According to the NBA's official list of Finals MVP winners, the award for 2018 went to him — the 2nd of his career.

Award at a Glance

Field	Detail
Year	2018
Award	NBA Finals MVP
Winner	Kevin Durant
Team	Golden State Warriors
Career wins	2nd

Why It Mattered

The 2018 Finals MVP decided who owned the story of that year's championship. Kevin Durant was the central figure in the Golden State Warriors' title run, and the media panel voted him the series' most valuable player.

Notably, this was not a one-off. Kevin Durant appears on the NBA Finals MVP list 2 times, which is exactly why queries like "2018 Kevin Durant finals mvp" keep attracting search interest year after year.

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The Other Award That Year

Two individual prizes were handed out in 2018: the NBA Finals MVP and the regular season MVP.

• This page's award (NBA Finals MVP): Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors)
• The same year's other award (regular season MVP): James Harden (Houston Rockets)

They went to different players — a clean reminder that "best over a whole season" and "most decisive when it mattered most" are two separate questions.

For the distinction between the two awards, see Finals MVP vs MVP.

Year-by-Year Timeline

• Next (2019): Kawhi Leonard (Toronto Raptors) → 2019 NBA Finals MVP
• Previous (2017): Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors) → 2017 NBA Finals MVP

Related Reading

• Complete List of NBA Finals MVPs (1969–2026)
• The History of the Finals MVP Award
• What Is the NBA Finals MVP Award?
• NBA MVP vs Finals MVP: What's the Difference?
• Kevin Durant honor timeline
• 2018 NBA MVP: James Harden (Houston Rockets)

Sources

Year, winner and team data on this page were verified against the NBA's official Finals MVP winners list (NBA.com history finals-mvp-winners) and Basketball-Reference public records, cross-checked against this site's two internal reference lists (last verified 2026-08-15).

FMVP Club — Independent fan site, not affiliated with the NBA.

Related Reading

• 2017 NBA Finals MVP: Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors)
• The Birth of a Juggernaut: A Deep Dive Into the 2017 Championship
• Three in Four: A Deep Dive Into the 2018 Championship
• Kevin Durant: Most Valuable and Legacy— One MVP, and a Coordinate of an Era
• Kevin Durant: Hard Work and Role Model— From a Fragile Boy to the "Reaper"