Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread)

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MVP in 25-26?

Jokic
107
27%
SGA
55
14%
Luka
77
19%
Giannis
46
12%
Edwards
4
1%
Wembanyama
74
19%
Mobley
2
1%
Brunson
6
2%
Davis
1
0%
Other (post below)
23
6%
 
Total votes: 395

Snake3
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1401 » by Snake3 » Yesterday 10:37 pm

MMyhre wrote:
Snake3 wrote:
MMyhre wrote:
Per 36 minutes played:
05/06 Kobe Bryant 31.1 pts on 55.9 ts %, 4 ast/2.7 to, 4.7 reb/0.8 oreb, 1.6 stl, 0.3 blk.
25-26 SGA 35.3 pts on 67.5 ts %, 7.1 ast/1.9 to, 5.4 reb/0.6 oreb, 1.7 stl, 0.9 blk.
25-26 Jokic 30.6 pts on 72.9 ts %, 11.4 ast/3.6 to, 13.3 reb/3.4 oreb, 1.6 stl, 0.8 blk.

BPM
1 Jokic 18.2
2 Shai 14
3 Kobe 7.6
WS/48
1 Jokic 41.3 %
2 Shai 39.6 %
3 Kobe 22.4 %
PER
1 Jokic 36.7
2 Shai 34
3 Kobe 28

Even accounting for worse teammates, 05/06 Kobe does not belong in this conversation imo.


I'm not comparing Kobe to Jokic/SGA in terms of stats. I'm comparing the situation of Kobe/Nash to Jokic/SGA in terms of MVP situations and narratives. Especially last year.

And even your comparison of stats, I would say it's better to do relative to the era than to compare them directly like that. Different defenses, spacing, pacing, offense, and rules.

With people more focused on packing the paint with slower big men, a great shooter would have more space to operate on the outside.
Different rules? Is this 1960?
Kobe just didn't perform as well as Jokic or Shai has this season, the difference is way too big to say "it was a different era". Okay, that still didn't stop peak Michael Jordan from being above 60 % ts four times on crazy volume with a game reliant on 2 pointers in an even more clogged era.

I am saying the situation is not the same, as Jokic is way better than Kobe was, who was overhyped that season.


Of course. The rules are different which affect the style of play. Kobe played in different ways where centers can camp in the paint, where handchecking were legal to a certain extent, to zone, to the shot clock not resetting to 14 secs, and etc. Like how some nba players have to adjust to the FIBA rules.

But the style of play affect the efficiency more than rules. There were less spacing back then. There were less complicated sets.

And while MJ was a beast, and was an outlier, there was still a change in how the 80s were played in comparison to the 90s. The rules changed too, but they tried to increase scoring in the 90s due to teams changing their philosophy on defense and due to lack of talent in comparison to the 80s. So it’s wrong to even compare 90s and 80s in a direct comparison too.

And like I said, I’m not comparing to Kobe and Jokic in terms of who is the better player. In comparing Kobe peers and arguments for and against him for mvp in 06 to Jokic in 25 and 26. Who is the better player between Kobe and Jokic is irrelevant.

But we don’t have to use Kobe 06. You can use MJ or Barkley in 90 or something.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1402 » by TheProfessor » Today 5:34 am

SGA is playing too well, for Jokic to have games like this. I think its SGA by a hair now. Jokic's defense has really regressed from prior years and he needs to consistently put up 30 point triple doubles to keep up with SGA. SGA is that good of a scorer and defender right now.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1403 » by ball_takes23 » Today 5:43 am

Yeah the losses are starting to pile up fast with AG out. SGA is now in the lead, it’s hard to see how anybody can compete with his combination of individual brilliance + team wins.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1404 » by Snake3 » Today 6:02 am

TheProfessor wrote:SGA is playing too well, for Jokic to have games like this. I think its SGA by a hair now. Jokic's defense has really regressed from prior years and he needs to consistently put up 30 point triple doubles to keep up with SGA. SGA is that good of a scorer and defender right now.


Naw, last year was worse. His defense this year started solid, but then the team itself collectively started to suck when AG went down.

I wouldn't figure they would need AG and Braun this much on the defensive end against some of these teams that they should beat.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1405 » by _NoMas » Today 6:07 am

That was a really awful showing from the joker. Defence was non existent. SGA is clearly the front runner atm.. Luka 2, Jokic 3.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1406 » by guynumber45 » Today 6:46 am

SGA has to be the front runner with the Nuggets falling off.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1407 » by Bob8 » Today 11:11 am

Why Jokic's +/-, on/off is suddenly not that impressive in last games? I wonder what's going on? I'm sure playing with worse teammates has nothing to do with it. :lol:
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1408 » by Optms » Today 12:58 pm

Luka is gonna have to go nuclear just to catch Shai now.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1409 » by One Last Shot » Today 1:54 pm

Like I said before, I don't think Jokic(permanent voter fatigue) or SGA(too stacked) is going to win the MVP this season. I still got Luka winning in the end as I expect him to go supernova soon(as if 35.1 ppg, 9.4 apg, 8.5 rpg, 1.8 spg in 63 TS% isn't impressive enough). Doncic will win the cup MVP, RS MVP, Finals MVP and NBA title this season to claim the undisputed best player in the world. Lakers will be the only team this decade to win multiple championships. OKC easily the best team in the regular season but their depth won't stand the firepower of Luka's squad in a playoffs series while Jokic's ceiling is game 7 of semifinals unless another weird circumstance occurs again like 2020(Pandemic) and 2023 playoffs(match-up against 3 play-in team, what are the odds of that happening?). Giannis might demand a trade to OKC next season if Lakers beat them, kinda like KD joining the heavy favorites in 2016 but Luka will beat them again in legendary 2027 playoffs run that's going to ascend him to NBA GOAT rushmore. Yes, beating that kind of firepower (2025 OKC minus JDub that they traded for Giannis) will ascend The Don's legacy to top 4 GOAT.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1410 » by canada_dry » Today 3:27 pm

No Aaron Gordon seems to be big problems for the nuggets. Can't have bad games against teams without their best player like the spurs without wemby and still expect to lead the MVP race.

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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1411 » by canada_dry » Today 3:38 pm

Snake3 wrote:
MMyhre wrote:
Snake3 wrote:
I'm not comparing Kobe to Jokic/SGA in terms of stats. I'm comparing the situation of Kobe/Nash to Jokic/SGA in terms of MVP situations and narratives. Especially last year.

And even your comparison of stats, I would say it's better to do relative to the era than to compare them directly like that. Different defenses, spacing, pacing, offense, and rules.

With people more focused on packing the paint with slower big men, a great shooter would have more space to operate on the outside.
Different rules? Is this 1960?
Kobe just didn't perform as well as Jokic or Shai has this season, the difference is way too big to say "it was a different era". Okay, that still didn't stop peak Michael Jordan from being above 60 % ts four times on crazy volume with a game reliant on 2 pointers in an even more clogged era.

I am saying the situation is not the same, as Jokic is way better than Kobe was, who was overhyped that season.


Of course. The rules are different which affect the style of play. Kobe played in different ways where centers can camp in the paint, where handchecking were legal to a certain extent, to zone, to the shot clock not resetting to 14 secs, and etc. Like how some nba players have to adjust to the FIBA rules.

But the style of play affect the efficiency more than rules. There were less spacing back then. There were less complicated sets.

And while MJ was a beast, and was an outlier, there was still a change in how the 80s were played in comparison to the 90s. The rules changed too, but they tried to increase scoring in the 90s due to teams changing their philosophy on defense and due to lack of talent in comparison to the 80s. So it’s wrong to even compare 90s and 80s in a direct comparison too.

And like I said, I’m not comparing to Kobe and Jokic in terms of who is the better player. In comparing Kobe peers and arguments for and against him for mvp in 06 to Jokic in 25 and 26. Who is the better player between Kobe and Jokic is irrelevant.

But we don’t have to use Kobe 06. You can use MJ or Barkley in 90 or something.
It is a bad comparison because if it wasn't gonna be nash it was gonna be Dirk or lebron. Its not like kobe was runner up in a close race. He was 4th.

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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1412 » by hagredionis » Today 3:45 pm

Luka's last 5 games:

41 / 6 / 9
37 / 10 / 5
33 / 8 / 11
43 / 13 / 9
35 / 11 / 5

Those are clear MVP numbers right there. Luka is now clearly ahead of Jokic apart from anything else there is now also more team success. Not to mention Luka beat San Antonio with Wemby, Jokic lost against San Antonio without Wemby.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1413 » by The Master » Today 4:09 pm

Snake3 wrote:Like with the 06 situation with Kobe dragging that team to the playoffs, I believe he should've gotten the MVP over Steve Nash in 06. I do get the reason why Nash won the reward. Still getting 50+ wins even with Amare hurt. But Kobe was doing incredible things, and had guys who would be out of the league in 2 years on the team. Like Smush Parker was starting.

Kobe in 05/06 season was 5th in BPM, 3rd in PER, 4th in win shares, and 2nd in VORP - so he wasn't the MVP that year regardless of criteria, there's no comparison here with Joker, even if you believe that Nash shouldn't have won the MVP. Maybe you could make an argument for LeBron in this analogy as he was leading in most of these categories and was ultimately 2nd in the voting, if he had had a better team, he would've won the MVP that year (Marion >>> Ilgauskas as a 2nd option), but even he wasn't close at that time to what Jokic does, and his statistical advantage was quite marginal (9.1 BPM with 2nd Dirk at 8.1).

hagredionis wrote:Those are clear MVP numbers right there. Luka is now clearly ahead of Jokic apart from anything else there is now also more team success.
Jokic is a tier better and more efficient offensive player than Luka.

Doncic is the third-best player of the regular season, so not too shabby either.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1414 » by bbms » Today 4:36 pm

One Last Shot wrote:Like I said before, I don't think Jokic(permanent voter fatigue) or SGA(too stacked) is going to win the MVP this season. I still got Luka winning in the end as I expect him to go supernova soon(as if 35.1 ppg, 9.4 apg, 8.5 rpg, 1.8 spg in 63 TS% isn't impressive enough). Doncic will win the cup MVP, RS MVP, Finals MVP and NBA title this season to claim the undisputed best player in the world. Lakers will be the only team this decade to win multiple championships. OKC easily the best team in the regular season but their depth won't stand the firepower of Luka's squad in a playoffs series while Jokic's ceiling is game 7 of semifinals unless another weird circumstance occurs again like 2020(Pandemic) and 2023 playoffs(match-up against 3 play-in team, what are the odds of that happening?). Giannis might demand a trade to OKC next season if Lakers beat them, kinda like KD joining the heavy favorites in 2016 but Luka will beat them again in legendary 2027 playoffs run that's going to ascend him to NBA GOAT rushmore. Yes, beating that kind of firepower (2025 OKC minus JDub that they traded for Giannis) will ascend The Don's legacy to top 4 GOAT.


10/10 fanfic probably a second round exit upsetted by timberwolves again or gsw
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1415 » by mademan » Today 4:37 pm

hagredionis wrote:Luka's last 5 games:

41 / 6 / 9
37 / 10 / 5
33 / 8 / 11
43 / 13 / 9
35 / 11 / 5

Those are clear MVP numbers right there. Luka is now clearly ahead of Jokic apart from anything else there is now also more team success. Not to mention Luka beat San Antonio with Wemby, Jokic lost against San Antonio without Wemby.


Denver plays better basketball with Jokic on the court than the Lakers do with Luka. Lakers are also 3-1 without Luka. Youre giving credit to Luka over Jokic for things that have nothing to do for either one of them, and the win difference is not nearly big enough to compensate for gulf in their stats/impact. Shai, you can make great arguments for, as he's on a historically great team putting up peak Jordan numbers with peak Steph efficiency. No one else has an argument over Jokic.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1416 » by Mavrelous » Today 4:47 pm

mademan wrote:
hagredionis wrote:Luka's last 5 games:

41 / 6 / 9
37 / 10 / 5
33 / 8 / 11
43 / 13 / 9
35 / 11 / 5

Those are clear MVP numbers right there. Luka is now clearly ahead of Jokic apart from anything else there is now also more team success. Not to mention Luka beat San Antonio with Wemby, Jokic lost against San Antonio without Wemby.


Denver plays better basketball with Jokic on the court than the Lakers do with Luka. Lakers are also 3-1 without Luka. Youre giving credit to Luka over Jokic for things that have nothing to do for either one of them, and the win difference is not nearly big enough to compensate for gulf in their stats/impact. Shai, you can make great arguments for, as he's on a historically great team putting up peak Jordan numbers with peak Steph efficiency. No one else has an argument over Jokic.

The 3-1 w/o Luka are:
Kings
Ant-less Eolves on a buzzer beater
Blazers where no one played, fluke game, Nuggets had these games along the years, no one ducked Jokic points for this.

Are we doing rivisionist history now and claiming Lakers supporting cast is better than the Nuggets or are we still on the asinine on/off argument?
Defense wins draft lotteries!
Fortune favours the bold, so it ducked Nico Harrison.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1417 » by Felixians4 » Today 5:16 pm

Optms wrote:Luka is gonna have to go nuclear just to catch Shai now.

Lakers need to stay top3, but OKC clearly going on 70+ wins
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1418 » by Homer38 » Today 5:18 pm

It will be very hard for Luka to catch SGA,almost impossible at this point....But Luka has a good chance to finish second if the lakers have a better record that the nuggets
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1419 » by PushDaRock » Today 5:23 pm

SGA is just ridiculous right now and still getting better. Shooting the 3 ball at 42%, AST% up to 35.4% and a comical 6.5 TOV% for someone who has the ball in his hands all the time and gets trapped and doubled like crazy.

People talk about OKC being stacked, but I see that being more on the defensive end than the offensive end. Look at SGA's % of FG assisted. It's at 15.6% on 2's and 20.5% on 3's this year. He is the entire offense for them.

He's closed the gap this year between him and Jokic as the best player in the world.
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Re: Who do you think wins MVP this season? (2025-26 NBA MVP Discussion Thread) 

Post#1420 » by MMyhre » Today 5:24 pm

Luka and Reaves played well on offense, but were bad on defense vs the Mavs. Reaves especially was barbecue chicken for P.J Washington, Luka was just lazy and slow.
They also foulbaited/did the Harden ripthrough and got a lot of 50/50 or just straight up ghost calls on jump shots or Reaves doing all kinds of weird antics, while both screamed loudly if anyone touches them on a shot. I really hope they lose before they play OKC, because I don't like the way they scream, yell at the refs all game and play for fouls on every possession this season. It could make the game more about the refereeing than the actual product, and I really don't want to see that, but it will be inevitable with the way they fish for fouls & the physicality of OKC's defense.

SGA is just the best clutch player in the league right now, and to me, the best player as well. He had a really nice defensive game, to go along with excellent playmaking, he could have had 12-13 + assists, and he created a lot of open threes, despite shooting poorly early in the game.
4th quarter was just a masterpiece, where the improved three point shooting continues to come in clutch and give him a new dimension in the clutch.

Luka is a great player, but his attitude is terrible on the court and it needs to be brought up more. There is no reason to glorify poor impulse control, poor & childish behavior, complaining to the referee in every situation like everything has to go your way out there. Seems like no one has the balls to tell him to focus up and stop being overly petulant. Good for OKC, there is no way you're playing better basketball by focusing on the referee in every situation that does not go your way. Just no way, and that is coming from someone who used to have big time anger issues in competition.

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