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Tim Bontemps
Several authors
Despite all the drama surrounding injuries and the availability of NBA stars this season, it hasn’t changed the top of the Most Valuable Player race.
For now.
In ESPN’s second MVP poll for the 2025-2026 season – a current look at the race using a panel of 100 local, national and international media members interviewed this week – Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander increased its lead over Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic. Gilgeous-Alexander earned 78 first-place votes and was the only player named on all 100 ballots.
The reigning MVP, who also earned 20 second-place votes and two third-place votes, is in the midst of another stellar season, averaging 31.8 points and 6.4 assists while shooting 55.4 percent from the field for the Western Conference-leading Thunder.
SGA’s lead has grown despite the reigning champions’ decline since our first poll was published in mid-December. The Thunder were once on the verge of winning over 70 games, but injuries brought them back down to earth; they went 17-13 after a blistering 24-1 start to the season. That includes a recent abdominal injury to Gilgeous-Alexander, who has already missed seven games and will miss at least a few more after the team announced Thursday he would be re-evaluated in a week.
Such a dip in form would have opened the door for Gilgeous-Alexander to compete at a high level, but in what has been a theme of this season, injuries have dramatically changed the awards landscape.
Jokic retained his second place (18 votes for first place), but the bone bruise he suffered at the end of December and which knocked him out for almost a month clearly blocked his MVP candidacy.
That certainly doesn’t mean Jokic has no chance of winning. His stat line – 28.7 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game with a shooting rate of 59% overall, 42% from 3 and 84% from the free throw line – certainly helps, even if his margin for error has diminished. If Jokic misses two more games, he will not be eligible for MVP and any end-of-season awards. This would end a streak of five consecutive top-two finishes in MVP voting, one less than Boston Celtics legends Bill Russell and Larry Bird for most of all time.
Jokic has plenty of company in the 65-game watch. San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama rose from eighth place in the December poll to fourth place with three first-place votes and received 75 ballots. But Wembanyama missed 13 games (he actually missed 14 but gets credit for the NBA Cup title game), meaning he can only miss four for the rest of the season.
But in his third season, the French phenom was formidable once again, averaging a league-leading 24.4 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. If he stays healthy and San Antonio can make up for the three games where it currently sits in first place behind OKC in the West, Wembanyama could replicate the run of 2022-23, when Philadelphia 76ers Center Joel Embiid’s late charge earned him the MVP award over Jokic.
Meanwhile, the fifth in the poll, Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncichas already missed 12 games. Two other vote observers… Los Angeles Clippers Before Kawhi Leonard (13 missed matches) and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (10 games missed) – could see their eligibility jeopardized due to another injury. And that doesn’t count either Giannis Antetokounmpo Or LeBron Jameswhich have already each fallen below the 65-game requirement. (Warriors of the Golden State guard Stéphane Curry received no poll votes and is two missed games away from being ineligible for the awards.)
But all the injuries at the top created opportunities for other players. Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunninghamwho finished third with a first-place vote, was the driving force behind Detroit’s remarkable season that saw the Pistons take the conference lead and take home-court advantage in the first round for the first time since 2008.
And with Jayson Tatum still sidelined — although potentially close to a return — because of the torn Achilles he suffered in last year’s playoffs, Celtics forward Jaylen Brown continued his remarkable campaign, finishing sixth in the straw poll. Considering Brown was ninth in the December poll, his jump is a nod to both his impressive play and the short-handed Celtics who entered the All-Star Break in second place in the East.
The ballot was rounded out by a trio of East All-Stars: Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (11 votes in total, 27 points in total, seventh place), New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (seven votes total, 17 total points, ninth place) and 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (four votes in total, 10 points in total, 10th place).
