Karl Malone has the fewest games by an MVP in a season, with 49 games in 1998-99.

Interpreted as:

least amount of games played by a player to win mvp in a regular season

NAME	GP	MVP	SEASON	TM	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	+/-
Karl Malone	49	1	1998-99	UTA	37.4	23.8	9.4	4.1	1.3	0.6	3.3	8.0	16.3	49.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	7.7	9.8	78.8	1,832	1,164	463	201	62	28	162	134	+355
Bill Walton	58	1	1977-78	POR	33.3	18.9	13.2	5.0	1.0	2.5	3.6	7.9	15.2	52.2				3.1	4.2	72.0	1,929	1,097	766	291	60	146	206	145
LeBron James	62	1	2011-12	MIA	37.5	27.1	7.9	6.2	1.9	0.8	3.4	10.0	18.9	53.1	0.9	2.4	36.2	6.2	8.1	77.1	2,326	1,683	492	387	115	50	213	96	+473
Giannis Antetokounmpo	63	1	2019-20	MIL	30.4	29.5	13.6	5.6	1.0	1.0	3.7	10.9	19.7	55.3	1.4	4.7	30.4	6.3	10.0	63.3	1,917	1,857	856	354	61	66	230	195	+682
Bob Cousy	64	1	1956-57	BOS		20.6						7.5						5.7	6.9	82.5		1,319						134
Joel Embiid	66	1	2022-23	PHI	34.6	33.1	10.2	4.2	1.0	1.7	3.4	11.0	20.1	54.8	1.0	3.0	33.0	10.0	11.7	85.7	2,284	2,183	670	274	66	112	226	205	+424
Bill Russell	69	1	1957-58	BOS		16.6						6.6						3.4	6.4	52.6		1,144						179
Allen Iverson	71	1	2000-01	PHI	42.0	31.1	3.8	4.6	2.5	0.3	3.3	10.7	25.5	42.0	1.4	4.3	32.0	8.2	10.1	81.4	2,979	2,207	273	325	178	20	237	147	+368
Nikola Jokic	72	1	2020-21	DEN	34.6	26.4	10.8	8.3	1.3	0.7	3.1	10.2	18.0	56.6	1.3	3.3	38.8	4.8	5.5	86.8	2,488	1,898	780	599	95	48	222	192	+384
Giannis Antetokounmpo	72	1	2018-19	MIL	32.8	27.7	12.5	5.9	1.3	1.5	3.7	10.0	17.3	57.8	0.7	2.8	25.6	6.9	9.5	72.9	2,358	1,994	898	424	92	110	268	232	+654
James Harden	72	1	2017-18	HOU	35.4	30.4	5.4	8.8	1.8	0.7	4.4	9.0	20.1	44.9	3.7	10.0	36.7	8.7	10.1	85.8	2,551	2,191	389	630	126	50	315	169	+527
Wilt Chamberlain	72	1	1959-60	PHI	46.4	37.6	27.0	2.3				14.8	32.1	46.1				8.0	13.7	58.3	3,338	2,707	1,941	163				150
Bob Pettit	72	1	1958-59	STL		29.2						10.0						9.3	12.2	76.1		2,105
Bob Pettit	72	1	1955-56	STL		25.7						9.0						7.7	10.5	73.5		1,847						203
Nikola Jokic	74	1	2021-22	DEN	33.5	27.1	13.8	7.9	1.5	0.9	3.8	10.3	17.7	58.3	1.3	3.9	33.7	5.1	6.3	81.0	2,476	2,004	1,019	584	109	63	281	191	+442
Steve Nash	75	1	2004-05	PHX	34.3	15.5	3.3	11.5	1.0	0.1	3.3	5.7	11.4	50.2	1.3	2.9	43.1	2.8	3.2	88.7	2,573	1,165	249	861	74	6	245	136	+664
LeBron James	76	1	2012-13	MIA	37.9	26.8	8.0	7.3	1.7	0.9	3.0	10.1	17.8	56.5	1.4	3.3	40.6	5.3	7.0	75.3	2,877	2,036	610	551	129	67	226	110	+720
LeBron James	76	1	2009-10	CLE	39.0	29.7	7.3	8.6	1.6	1.0	3.4	10.1	20.1	50.3	1.7	5.1	33.3	7.8	10.2	76.7	2,966	2,258	554	651	125	77	261	119	+648
Charles Barkley	76	1	1992-93	PHX	37.6	25.6	12.2	5.1	1.6	1.0	3.1	9.4	18.1	52.0	0.9	2.9	30.5	5.9	7.7	76.5	2,859	1,944	928	385	119	74	233	197
Bill Russell	76	1	1961-62	BOS		18.9	23.5					7.6						3.8	6.3	59.5		1,436	1,789					207
Magic Johnson	77	1	1988-89	LAL	37.5	22.5	7.9	12.8	1.8	0.3	4.1	7.5	14.8	50.9	0.8	2.4	31.4	6.7	7.3	91.1	2,886	1,730	607	988	138	22	312	172
Dirk Nowitzki	78	1	2006-07	DAL	36.2	24.6	8.9	3.4	0.7	0.8	2.1	8.6	17.2	50.2	0.9	2.2	41.6	6.4	7.1	90.4	2,820	1,916	693	263	52	62	167	171	+623
Moses Malone	78	1	1982-83	PHI	37.5	24.5	15.3	1.3		2.0		8.4	16.7	50.1	0.0	0.0		7.7	10.1	76.1	2,923	1,908	1,194	101		157		206
Bill Russell	78	1	1964-65	BOS		14.1	24.1					5.5						3.1	5.4	57.5		1,102	1,878
Bill Russell	78	1	1962-63	BOS		16.8	23.6					6.6						3.7	6.6	55.4		1,309	1,843					187