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

Interpreted as:

NBA fewest games played by an mvp in a regular season by a player

	NAME	GP	MVP	SEASON	TM	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TPG	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	+/-
1	Karl Malone K. Malone	49	1	1998-99	UTA	37.4	23.8	9.4	4.1	1.3	0.6	8.0	16.3	49.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	7.7	9.8	78.8	57.7	2.2	7.3	3.3	1,832	1,164	463	201	62	28	162	134	+355
2	Bill Walton B. Walton	58	1	1977-78	POR	33.3	18.9	13.2	5.0	1.0	2.5	7.9	15.2	52.2				3.1	4.2	72.0	55.4	2.0	11.2	3.6	1,929	1,097	766	291	60	146	206	145
3	LeBron James L. James	62	1	2011-12	MIA	37.5	27.1	7.9	6.2	1.9	0.8	10.0	18.9	53.1	0.9	2.4	36.2	6.2	8.1	77.1	60.5	1.5	6.4	3.4	2,326	1,683	492	387	115	50	213	96	+473
4	Giannis Antetokounmpo G. Antetokounmpo	63	1	2019-20	MIL	30.4	29.5	13.6	5.6	1.0	1.0	10.9	19.7	55.3	1.4	4.7	30.4	6.3	10.0	63.3	61.3	2.2	11.4	3.7	1,917	1,857	856	354	61	66	230	195	+682
5	Bob Cousy B. Cousy	64	1	1956-57	BOS		20.6					7.5						5.7	6.9	82.5						1,319						134
6	Joel Embiid J. Embiid	66	1	2022-23	PHI	34.6	33.1	10.2	4.2	1.0	1.7	11.0	20.1	54.8	1.0	3.0	33.0	10.0	11.7	85.7	65.5	1.7	8.4	3.4	2,284	2,183	670	274	66	112	226	205	+424
7	Bill Russell B. Russell	69	1	1957-58	BOS		16.6					6.6						3.4	6.4	52.6						1,144						179
8	Allen Iverson A. Iverson	71	1	2000-01	PHI	42.0	31.1	3.8	4.6	2.5	0.3	10.7	25.5	42.0	1.4	4.3	32.0	8.2	10.1	81.4	51.8	0.7	3.1	3.3	2,979	2,207	273	325	178	20	237	147	+368
9	Nikola Jokić N. Jokić	72	1	2020-21	DEN	34.5	26.4	10.8	8.3	1.3	0.7	10.2	18.0	56.6	1.3	3.3	38.8	4.8	5.5	86.8	64.7	2.8	8.0	3.1	2,487	1,898	780	599	95	48	222	192	+384
10	Giannis Antetokounmpo G. Antetokounmpo	72	1	2018-19	MIL	32.8	27.7	12.5	5.9	1.3	1.5	10.0	17.3	57.8	0.7	2.8	25.6	6.9	9.5	72.9	64.4	2.2	10.3	3.7	2,358	1,994	898	424	92	110	268	232	+654
11	James Harden J. Harden	72	1	2017-18	HOU	35.4	30.4	5.4	8.8	1.8	0.7	9.0	20.1	44.9	3.7	10.0	36.7	8.7	10.1	85.8	61.9	0.6	4.8	4.4	2,551	2,191	389	630	126	50	315	169	+527
12	Wilt Chamberlain W. 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	49.3				3,338	2,707	1,941	163				150
13	Bob Pettit B. Pettit	72	1	1958-59	STL		29.2					10.0						9.3	12.2	76.1						2,105
14	Bob Pettit B. Pettit	72	1	1955-56	STL		25.7					9.0						7.7	10.5	73.5						1,847						203
15	Nikola Jokić N. Jokić	74	1	2021-22	DEN	33.5	27.1	13.8	7.9	1.5	0.9	10.3	17.7	58.3	1.3	3.9	33.7	5.1	6.3	81.0	66.1	2.8	11.0	3.8	2,475	2,004	1,019	584	109	63	281	191	+442
16	Steve Nash S. Nash	75	1	2004-05	PHX	34.3	15.5	3.3	11.5	1.0	0.1	5.7	11.4	50.2	1.3	2.9	43.1	2.8	3.2	88.7	60.6	0.8	2.6	3.3	2,573	1,165	249	861	74	6	245	136	+664
17	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander S. Gilgeous-Alexander	76	1	2024-25	OKC	34.2	32.7	5.0	6.4	1.7	1.0	11.3	21.8	51.9	2.1	5.7	37.5	7.9	8.8	89.8	63.7	0.9	4.1	2.4	2,598	2,484	379	486	131	77	183	164	+918
18	LeBron James L. James	76	1	2012-13	MIA	37.9	26.8	8.0	7.3	1.7	0.9	10.1	17.8	56.5	1.4	3.3	40.6	5.3	7.0	75.3	64.0	1.3	6.8	3.0	2,877	2,036	610	551	129	67	226	110	+720
19	LeBron James L. James	76	1	2009-10	CLE	39.0	29.7	7.3	8.6	1.6	1.0	10.1	20.1	50.3	1.7	5.1	33.3	7.8	10.2	76.7	60.4	0.9	6.4	3.4	2,966	2,258	554	651	125	77	261	119	+648
20	Charles Barkley C. Barkley	76	1	1992-93	PHX	37.6	25.6	12.2	5.1	1.6	1.0	9.4	18.1	52.0	0.9	2.9	30.5	5.9	7.7	76.5	59.6	3.1	9.1	3.1	2,859	1,944	928	385	119	74	233	197
21	Bill Russell B. Russell	76	1	1961-62	BOS		18.9	23.5				7.6						3.8	6.3	59.5						1,436	1,789					207
22	Magic Johnson M. Johnson	77	1	1988-89	LAL	37.5	22.5	7.9	12.8	1.8	0.3	7.5	14.8	50.9	0.8	2.4	31.4	6.7	7.3	91.1	62.5	1.4	6.4	4.1	2,886	1,730	607	988	138	22	312	172
23	Dirk Nowitzki D. Nowitzki	78	1	2006-07	DAL	36.2	24.6	8.9	3.4	0.7	0.8	8.6	17.2	50.2	0.9	2.2	41.6	6.4	7.1	90.4	60.5	1.6	7.3	2.1	2,820	1,916	693	263	52	62	167	171	+623
24	Moses Malone M. 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	57.8				2,923	1,908	1,194	101		157		206
25	Bill Russell B. Russell	78	1	1964-65	BOS		14.1	24.1				5.5						3.1	5.4	57.5						1,102	1,878