Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the lead name among the finalists announced Sunday for the 2025-26 MVP award. Joining him on the short list are San Antonio’s towering young star Victor Wembanyama and Denver center Nikola Jokic.
Gilgeous-Alexander returns to the conversation after winning last season’s MVP and earning Finals MVP honors when Oklahoma City captured the title. This season he scored at better than a 30-point per game pace and steered the Thunder to the top seed in the Western Conference, finishing with the league’s best record at 64-18.
At 22, Wembanyama has been the centerpiece of San Antonio’s resurgence, guiding the Spurs back into the playoffs for the first time since 2019. He produced a career-high scoring average of about 25 points per game and supplied the NBA’s best shot-blocking rate at 3.1 blocks per night.
Jokic, a three-time league MVP, again posted historic numbers. He finished the campaign averaging a triple-double and became the first player in NBA history to lead the league in both rebounds and assists in the same season, compiling averages of roughly 27.9 points, 12.8 rebounds and 10.8 assists per game.
Defensive Player of the Year finalists include Wembanyama as well as Oklahoma City center Chet Holmgren and Detroit’s Ausar Thompson. Gilgeous-Alexander is also on the ballot for Clutch Player of the Year after scoring 175 points in defined clutch situations — the final five minutes of regulation or overtime when the score is within five points. Anthony Edwards, whose request for an “extraordinary circumstances” exemption from the 65-game minimum was denied and thus was excluded from the MVP race, still appears among the Clutch finalists.
Notably, Luka Dončić and Cade Cunningham, both ruled eligible for award consideration despite falling short of the 65-game threshold, did not make the final MVP ballot. Winners across the various award categories will be decided by a panel of sports media members and revealed during the playoffs.
