With the NBA season reaching the halfway point, it is now clear who the frontrunners for the MVP award are.
Currently, the MVP race is between Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Of course, these two finished top two in voting last season as well, with Jokić winning his third MVP award.
Both players are well deserving of the award, especially Jokić, who is putting together arguably the best season of his already incredible career. This season, the 29-year-old superstar is averaging 30.6 points, 13.2 rebounds, 9.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 55.5% from the field and 47.1% from three.
While Jokić is clearly in the MVP conversation, one Eastern Conference superstar point guard does not believe he should win the award.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shoots the ball past Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.
© Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson recently discussed the MVP race on he and Josh Hart’s podcast, Roommates Show.
“(Denver’s) not seeded like last season, and people are still talking about (Jokić) being the MVP,” Brunson said. “When Luke (Dončić) was averaging damn near a triple-double, they were like ‘oh, he shouldn’t win MVP because of his seeding.’”
Brunson does make a compelling point comparing Jokić’s season to Dončić’s 2023-24 season. Dončić finished third in MVP voting that season behind both Jokić and Shai despite averaging 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game. The Dallas Mavericks also finished fifth in the Western Conference standing while the Thunder and Nuggets finished top two in the West.
This season, Jokić’s Nuggets currently sit fourth in the West standings, which may give the advantage to Shai for winning the award since the Thunder currently have the best record in the West. While where a team sits in the standings should not dictate who wins MVP, it has multiple times in NBA history, including last season.
Either way, both Shai and Jokić have had truly incredible seasons, so voters may look at where their teams ends up in the West standings before deciding who wins the award at the end of the season.