Moses Malone racked up his first MVP award, one that may be unwarranted due to being a really bad big man defender based on DBPM. Kareem may have been disrespected once again, finishing fourth. Gervin, Dandridge, and Hayes are also wild cards, though it's fair to question how valuable they were.

the top five was:

1. Moses Malone

2. George Gervin

3. Elvin Hayes

4. Kareem Abdul Jabbar

5. Bob Dandridge

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1979_per_game.html