Kareem wins the first MVP award post merger, and it was very likely deserved with him in his prime. It's probably warranted, unless you value Walton's completeness and Maravich's scoring.
the most valuable player voting went as this so we'll go off that top 5 order. vote other if you have anyone else you think deserves it.
Kareem
Bill Walton
Maravich
Lanier
Erving
Link to BB Reference Stats for this season: https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1977_per_game.html