As the NBA regular season winds down, the race for MVP, which seemingly intensifies every night, might be the best ever.
It’s not simply due to overwhelming statistics — although that does play a significant part — but rather the uniqueness of the four candidates, who differ greatly in skill set, approach and resume.
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Let’s break down the favorites:
Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
Simply put, Jokić remains the best player in all of basketball, a player utterly unrivaled in IQ, court vision and creativity.
The only argument against the 7-foot Serbian is how his team went through a considerable dry spell, losing seven of 11 games in February while playing an underwhelming collective brand of basketball.
That said, the Nuggets are currently on a seven-game winning streak and look almost as cohesive as when they won the title in 2023.
This is all quarterbacked by Jokić, who collects triple-doubles entirely within the fabric of the offense. This isn’t some Russell Westbrook situation, where his teammates are clearing out to have him achieve the line, nor is he stat-pumping.
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Jokić’s numbers, as impressive as they are, fall short of fully encapsulating his worth to the Nuggets and just how impactful he is every single night.
Offensively speaking, Jokić might be the most unique big man of all time, currently dominating in the middle of his prime on a team fast approaching 50 wins.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
It’s no surprise the defending MVP is back in the conversation this year. Gilgeous-Alexander is slowly, but surely, turning into the Michael Jordan of this generation in terms of how he plays, how he scores and how he competes on both ends.
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Only 4.4 of his shot attempts per night are 3-pointers, as he does the vast majority of his damage near the rim and in the midrange area, much like a former Bull who won five of these awards.
With several Thunder players missing time this year, Gilgeous-Alexander has stepped up and extended his productivity, keeping the Thunder firmly locked into the No. 1 in the Western Conference.
His numbers might not be as all-around oriented as Jokić or Luka Dončić, but his efficiency (TS of 66.6%) and overall defensive impact are in a category by themselves. The fact that he also rarely turns the ball over, despite being the primary decision-maker, is extra impressive.
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The superstar has also scored 20 or more points in 143 consecutive games, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record, which points to a level of consistency that is outrageous.
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
While Jokić might be a unique offensive big man, Wembanyama has a chance to go down as the most special player in history, position be damned.
The 22-year-old is already the best defender in basketball and has been for three seasons now. He’s a lock for Defensive Player Of the Year if he makes the games-played criteria, and that should only work in his favor for MVP, as opposed to take away from it.
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There’s an interesting subplot in regard to his MVP candidacy. If Wembanyama wins, he’ll be the youngest to win the award, topping Derrick Rose, who won it in 2011 at the age of 22. Wembanyama will also be 22, but he’ll turn 22 on April 4; Rose turned 22 on Oct. 4, before his MVP season.
Essentially, this means Wembanyama has one shot to get this honor. Next year will be too late. Fortunately for him, he’s got a good case. The Spurs are rolling, and they’re rolling at a ridiculous rate, all spearheaded by the 7-foot-4 Frenchman.
The Spurs are 26-1 in the past 27 games he’s played in, and they currently sit on 58 wins — more than what was projected going into the season.
Wembanyama’s not playing as many minutes as anyone else on the list (29.2 minutes per game), but that doesn’t seem to deter him. He’s played 60 total minutes over his past two games and somehow still gathered 82 points, 34 rebounds and six blocks, making a strong late-season push.
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Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers
Speaking of a late-season MVP push, Luka Dončić has entered the chat.
The all-around guard is leading the league in scoring and has recently upped that part of his game even more, averaging 35.8 points over his past 21 games, in which the Lakers have gone 16-5 after a modest start to the season.
Dončić also leads the league in made 3-pointers per game, free-throw attempts and total shots made per game, proving again that he can be a scoring force without equal.
Dončić was broadly ignored in MVP context for most of the season, in large part due to the sluggish Lakers, who spent the better part of the season struggling to get a foothold in the standings.
As they now sit with 50 wins, it’s difficult to justify any absence of Dončić in the conversation. The Slovenian’s all-around game, combined with 60-, 50- and 40-point performances this season, is just too loud to ignore.
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While Dončić isn’t the same caliber of defender as Gilgeous-Alexander or Wembanyama, he’s been surprisingly adept on occasion this season when he isn’t taxed with carrying the entire offensive load. That feels significant in this discussion, especially when you consider his defensive shortcomings to be the reason for his omission in previous seasons.
However things shake out, we have a race for the ages that could be decided in the season’s final weeks.
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