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

[bstein14]

Jokic is averaging 29 ppg and on track for the highest TS% of all time. You have to go down '23 Durant at the 44th spot to find another player who averaged at least 20 ppg.

So, you have arguably the greatest passer of all time having arguably the greatest scoring season of all time.

While leading the league in rebounding.

Jalen Duren very possibly could average 20+ PPG this season while also putting up a top 10 TS% season of all time again (he had one last year, but of course without averaging 20+ PPG)


I actually thought Jalen would be leading the league this year being at over 70% but he's amazingly 4th right now behind Jokic, AJ Green, and Ayton.

[bbms]

Leaders in Clutch Points (final 5 minutes or overtime):

1. Shai: 80 points in 9 games

2. Maxey: 66 in 14 games
3. Cade: 59 in 12 games
4. Flagg: 48 in 14 games
5. Harden: 42 in 9 games

80 points in NINE games. In the rest, SGA didn't even come close to being on the court in the final minutes.

Do you guys even have close games? That's pretty remarkable considering that net rating. This means that on the rare occasion where OKC has to play a close game (clutch is considered within 5 points in the last 5 minutes, right?), they funnel everything through this guy, and he does amazingly well in those moments (which we knew).

yeah he's pretty good

[Cubbies2120]

Leaders in Clutch Points (final 5 minutes or overtime):

1. Shai: 80 points in 9 games

2. Maxey: 66 in 14 games
3. Cade: 59 in 12 games
4. Flagg: 48 in 14 games
5. Harden: 42 in 9 games

80 points in NINE games. In the rest, SGA didn't even come close to being on the court in the final minutes.

Leaders in Clutch Free Throw Attempts (final 5 minutes or overtime):

1. Shai (37 FTA in 9 games)

2. Cade: 25 in 12 games
3. Maxey: 25 in 14 games
4. Flagg: 21 in 14 games
5. Johnson: 18 in 12 games

SGA in 9 games of clutch time has attempted almost 50% of the clutch FT attempts of a 2001 Prime Shaq, who had a 39 game clutch sample size.

Let that sink in. SGA has a better whistle than prime Shaq who was being intentionally fouled sometimes

[MoneyTalks41890]

Leaders in Clutch Points (final 5 minutes or overtime):

1. Shai: 80 points in 9 games

2. Maxey: 66 in 14 games
3. Cade: 59 in 12 games
4. Flagg: 48 in 14 games
5. Harden: 42 in 9 games

80 points in NINE games. In the rest, SGA didn't even come close to being on the court in the final minutes.

Leaders in Clutch Free Throw Attempts (final 5 minutes or overtime):

1. Shai (37 FTA in 9 games)

2. Cade: 25 in 12 games
3. Maxey: 25 in 14 games
4. Flagg: 21 in 14 games
5. Johnson: 18 in 12 games

SGA in 9 games of clutch time has attempted almost 50% of the clutch FT attempts of a 2001 Prime Shaq, who had a 39 game clutch sample size.

Let that sink in. SGA has a better whistle than prime Shaq who was being intentionally fouled sometimes

Well, OKC only lost 1 of those games. How many of those do you think were intentional because Shai had just put the game away?

[MMyhre]

Leaders in Clutch Points (final 5 minutes or overtime):

1. Shai: 80 points in 9 games

2. Maxey: 66 in 14 games
3. Cade: 59 in 12 games
4. Flagg: 48 in 14 games
5. Harden: 42 in 9 games

80 points in NINE games. In the rest, SGA didn't even come close to being on the court in the final minutes.

Leaders in Clutch Free Throw Attempts (final 5 minutes or overtime):

1. Shai (37 FTA in 9 games)

2. Cade: 25 in 12 games
3. Maxey: 25 in 14 games
4. Flagg: 21 in 14 games
5. Johnson: 18 in 12 games

SGA in 9 games of clutch time has attempted almost 50% of the clutch FT attempts of a 2001 Prime Shaq, who had a 39 game clutch sample size.

Let that sink in. SGA has a better whistle than prime Shaq who was being intentionally fouled sometimes

He is being intentionally fouled, you dense potato.

[bbms]

Leaders in Clutch Points (final 5 minutes or overtime):

1. Shai: 80 points in 9 games

2. Maxey: 66 in 14 games
3. Cade: 59 in 12 games
4. Flagg: 48 in 14 games
5. Harden: 42 in 9 games

80 points in NINE games. In the rest, SGA didn't even come close to being on the court in the final minutes.

Leaders in Clutch Free Throw Attempts (final 5 minutes or overtime):

1. Shai (37 FTA in 9 games)

2. Cade: 25 in 12 games
3. Maxey: 25 in 14 games
4. Flagg: 21 in 14 games
5. Johnson: 18 in 12 games

SGA in 9 games of clutch time has attempted almost 50% of the clutch FT attempts of a 2001 Prime Shaq, who had a 39 game clutch sample size.

Let that sink in. SGA has a better whistle than prime Shaq who was being intentionally fouled sometimes

point being?

so if you take out his ftas he'd still be in the top 5, paying 3-5 games of clutch than the guys ahead of him?

terrible

[MMyhre]

Jokic is averaging 29 ppg and on track for the highest TS% of all time. You have to go down '23 Durant at the 44th spot to find another player who averaged at least 20 ppg.

So, you have arguably the greatest passer of all time having arguably the greatest scoring season of all time.

While leading the league in rebounding.

You're not going to get the greatest scoring season of all time taking only 7, 8, 9 and 10, 10 and 10 shot attempts. That's called picking your spots, the stuff role players does. If you want to have the greatest scoring season of all time you need to be able to take, force and make some tougher shots even if it's not going to be pretty. He lost two of those games where he took 10 shots or less. Being picky with your shot selection is not a luxury that the 1st scoring option can be allowed to have if you want to win games, especially in the clutch. If you want to call it the greatest scoring season of all time, he needs more volume and more points.

Shai has 35.3 pts per 75 possessions, Jokic 29.7 pts. Shai leads the league in clutch scoring by a landslide, because he knows that he is the best scorer so he forces and takes more shots at that time.

I am not saying you have to take every shot, but most certainly a man with the scoring capacity of Jokic has no business taking so few shots as he does so often, and if he keeps doing it, you can't really call it the greatest scoring season because he often deferred to worse scorers and picked his spots. You shouldn't be rewarded or overly praised for picking your spots in many games as the 1st scoring option, to me that is odd at least.

Now if the Nuggets just steamrolled everyone in those games, sure, but that hasn't been the case. And in a playoff scenario you want your best scorer to take more shots even more so, so building a habit of doing so early would seem beneficial for practicing playoff scenarios.

[Cubbies2120]

Leaders in Clutch Points (final 5 minutes or overtime):

1. Shai: 80 points in 9 games

2. Maxey: 66 in 14 games
3. Cade: 59 in 12 games
4. Flagg: 48 in 14 games
5. Harden: 42 in 9 games

80 points in NINE games. In the rest, SGA didn't even come close to being on the court in the final minutes.

Leaders in Clutch Free Throw Attempts (final 5 minutes or overtime):

1. Shai (37 FTA in 9 games)

2. Cade: 25 in 12 games
3. Maxey: 25 in 14 games
4. Flagg: 21 in 14 games
5. Johnson: 18 in 12 games

SGA in 9 games of clutch time has attempted almost 50% of the clutch FT attempts of a 2001 Prime Shaq, who had a 39 game clutch sample size.

Let that sink in. SGA has a better whistle than prime Shaq who was being intentionally fouled sometimes

Well, OKC only lost 1 of those games. How many of those do you think were intentional because Shai had just put the game away?

Makes the points lead less impressive then, no?

[RunOKC]

mvp masterclass

[MMyhre]

Leaders in Clutch Free Throw Attempts (final 5 minutes or overtime):

1. Shai (37 FTA in 9 games)

2. Cade: 25 in 12 games
3. Maxey: 25 in 14 games
4. Flagg: 21 in 14 games
5. Johnson: 18 in 12 games

SGA in 9 games of clutch time has attempted almost 50% of the clutch FT attempts of a 2001 Prime Shaq, who had a 39 game clutch sample size.

Let that sink in. SGA has a better whistle than prime Shaq who was being intentionally fouled sometimes

Well, OKC only lost 1 of those games. How many of those do you think were intentional because Shai had just put the game away?

Makes the points lead less impressive then, no?

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1pbb6iw/highlights_shai_gilgeousalexander_clutch/

He has been doing this all season. He is not dominating the clutch points because of free throws, he has the most shot makes as well.

[Cubbies2120]

Jokic is averaging 29 ppg and on track for the highest TS% of all time. You have to go down '23 Durant at the 44th spot to find another player who averaged at least 20 ppg.

So, you have arguably the greatest passer of all time having arguably the greatest scoring season of all time.

While leading the league in rebounding.

You're not going to get the greatest scoring season of all time taking only 7, 8, 9 and 10, 10 and 10 shot attempts.

Now if the Nuggets just steamrolled everyone in those games, sure, but that hasn't been the case. And in a playoff scenario you want your best scorer to take more shots even more so, so building a habit of doing so early would seem beneficial for practicing playoff scenarios.

In those games where he shot 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10 shot attempts:

Nuggets won 4 by double digits
Lost one by 2
Lost one by 3 (Jokic in foul trouble as well)

I'll take that every day...winning 66% by double digits and losing 1-possession games, while integrating new players into the offense.

[Cubbies2120]

Well, OKC only lost 1 of those games. How many of those do you think were intentional because Shai had just put the game away?

Makes the points lead less impressive then, no?

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1pbb6iw/highlights_shai_gilgeousalexander_clutch/

He has been doing this all season. He is not dominating the clutch points because of free throws, he has the most shot makes as well.

But one directly impacts what the original post was stating, his points in the clutch.

Also, he has attempted 42 FGA in 9 games in the clutch, vs. 44 in 14 games for the leader (Maxey).

So he freely chucks away, almost as much as prime '06 Kobe (who was called a black hole on offense because he was surrounded by garbage). That Kobe took 40 FGA / 100 possessions in the clutch with HORRIFIC teammates. SGA is taking 37/100.

[BelgradeNugget]

You're not going to get the greatest scoring season of all time taking only 7, 8, 9 and 10, 10 and 10 shot attempts. That's called picking your spots, the stuff role players does. If you want to have the greatest scoring season of all time you need to be able to take, force and make some tougher shots even if it's not going to be pretty.

You are the one constantly calling Jokic efficiency merchant and you are right. He only takes the easiest shots to make his TS% look good. This was one of those games he only took 9 easiest shots.

Watch on YouTube

[MMyhre]

Jokic is averaging 29 ppg and on track for the highest TS% of all time. You have to go down '23 Durant at the 44th spot to find another player who averaged at least 20 ppg.

So, you have arguably the greatest passer of all time having arguably the greatest scoring season of all time.

While leading the league in rebounding.

You're not going to get the greatest scoring season of all time taking only 7, 8, 9 and 10, 10 and 10 shot attempts.

Now if the Nuggets just steamrolled everyone in those games, sure, but that hasn't been the case. And in a playoff scenario you want your best scorer to take more shots even more so, so building a habit of doing so early would seem beneficial for practicing playoff scenarios.

In those games where he shot 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10 shot attempts:

Nuggets won 4 by double digits
Lost one by 2
Lost one by 3 (Jokic in foul trouble as well)

I'll take that every day...winning 66% by double digits and losing 1-possession games, while integrating new players into the offense.

Yeah, he can pass to Peyton Watson in the playoffs against OKC and watch as they lose for all I care. I love it.

[MMyhre]

You're not going to get the greatest scoring season of all time taking only 7, 8, 9 and 10, 10 and 10 shot attempts. That's called picking your spots, the stuff role players does. If you want to have the greatest scoring season of all time you need to be able to take, force and make some tougher shots even if it's not going to be pretty.

You are the one constantly calling Jokic efficiency merchant and you are right. He only takes the easiest shots to make his TS% look good. This was one of those games he only took 9 easiest shots.

Watch on YouTube

Yeah yeah, keep finding excuses for your hero. How low can his shot attempts go? I want eight against OKC in a blowout loss in may. Can you tell him? And he will look amazing efficiency wise, so you can post all about his efficiency while Shai and OKC focus on actually making the winning play and letting your teams best scorer go to work.

It's interesting how his defense still wasn't good even if his shot attempts were low recently, I saw some non Jokic-cultist Nuggets fans pointing that out in the Nuggets subreddit. You would think he would have more energy for defense when his shot attempts are so low at times? You will surely find another excuse for that as well. And for when he loses in the postseason again. It was the horses fault!

[MMyhre]

Makes the points lead less impressive then, no?

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1pbb6iw/highlights_shai_gilgeousalexander_clutch/

He has been doing this all season. He is not dominating the clutch points because of free throws, he has the most shot makes as well.

But one directly impacts what the original post was stating, his points in the clutch.

Also, he has attempted 42 FGA in 9 games in the clutch, vs. 44 in 14 games for the leader (Maxey).

So he freely chucks away, almost as much as prime '06 Kobe (who was called a black hole on offense because he was surrounded by garbage). That Kobe took 40 FGA / 100 possessions in the clutch with HORRIFIC teammates. SGA is taking 37/100.

And he hits a lot of those shots at a 68.4 ts %. I guess Michael Jordan shouldn't have been so good at scoring in the clutch either, what an idiot! Why is he shooting and carrying his team in the clutch?! Moron.

Never seen someone try to twist something so great into a bad thing, lol. OKC want the ball in SGA's hands when it matters, that's how it's going to be in the postseason as well. Because he shoots the god damned 10-16 midrange shot at 58.2 % for the season. That would be the highest % on that volume by far in NBA history. Jordan was reported at around 51 % for comparison. KD had a 56.3 % season from there in 22-23, that's the highest I have seen so far.

[BelgradeNugget]

You're not going to get the greatest scoring season of all time taking only 7, 8, 9 and 10, 10 and 10 shot attempts. That's called picking your spots, the stuff role players does. If you want to have the greatest scoring season of all time you need to be able to take, force and make some tougher shots even if it's not going to be pretty.

You are the one constantly calling Jokic efficiency merchant and you are right. He only takes the easiest shots to make his TS% look good. This was one of those games he only took 9 easiest shots.

Watch on YouTube

Yeah yeah, keep finding excuses for your hero. How low can his shot attempts go? I want eight against OKC in a blowout loss in may. Can you tell him? And he will look amazing efficiency wise, so you can post all about his efficiency while Shai and OKC focus on actually making the winning play and letting your teams best scorer go to work.

It's interesting how his defense still wasn't good even if his shot attempts were low recently, I saw some non Jokic-cultist Nuggets fans pointing that out in the Nuggets subreddit. You would think he would have more energy for defense when his shot attempts are so low at times? You will surely find another excuse for that as well. And for when he loses in the postseason again. It was the horses fault!

Wait, I have lost your point. Efficiency merchant or traffic cone. You Jokic-hater-cultist are sick. To dedicate your whole life on hating one player. Does this make you happy? Well I don't think so, but before you find better meaning of life it is all you have left. Right now he is loosing one game of 4 so you will have more happiness in your life.

BTW his shot attempts depend on offense he is creating. You know as a play-maker if you have heard of this word. And Nuggets offense is leading the league so I guess he knows what he is doing better than you. Or maybe not I see a lot of 12 years old experts here.

[MMyhre]

You are the one constantly calling Jokic efficiency merchant and you are right. He only takes the easiest shots to make his TS% look good. This was one of those games he only took 9 easiest shots.

Watch on YouTube

Yeah yeah, keep finding excuses for your hero. How low can his shot attempts go? I want eight against OKC in a blowout loss in may. Can you tell him? And he will look amazing efficiency wise, so you can post all about his efficiency while Shai and OKC focus on actually making the winning play and letting your teams best scorer go to work.

It's interesting how his defense still wasn't good even if his shot attempts were low recently, I saw some non Jokic-cultist Nuggets fans pointing that out in the Nuggets subreddit. You would think he would have more energy for defense when his shot attempts are so low at times? You will surely find another excuse for that as well. And for when he loses in the postseason again. It was the horses fault!

Wait, I have lost your point. Efficiency merchant or traffic cone. You Jokic-hater-cultist are sick. To dedicate your whole life on hating one player. Does this make you happy? Well I don't think so, but before you find better meaning of life it is all you have left. Right now he is loosing one game of 4 so you will have more happiness in your life.

BTW his shot attempts depend on offense he is creating. You know as a playmaker if you have heard of this word. And Nuggets offense is leading the league so I guess he knows what he is doing better than you. Or maybe not I see a lot of 12 years old experts here.

Hahaha. Why am I a hater? I literally just made a valid point about his shot attempts and defensive effort being too low at times.
I still have him 1A and 1B with SGA in the MVP race. I am only playfully jabbing at you guys for being so god damned sensitive about anything negative about Jokic, it's kind of hilarious. We are allowed to criticize him. I can criticize SGA as well, he pushes off and he foulbaits at times like the foul call he got against Murray last night. That's lame, but its how the game has "evolved" for better or worse, and way too many players like Brunson, SGA, Luka, Reaves and Mitchell do it. Jokic flops at times as well. Jordan pushed off on his famous 98 shot vs the Jazz as well so idk.

[HotRocks34]

Vegas seems to think it's a three-person contest right now.
.
.

[Optms]

Yeah yeah, keep finding excuses for your hero. How low can his shot attempts go? I want eight against OKC in a blowout loss in may. Can you tell him? And he will look amazing efficiency wise, so you can post all about his efficiency while Shai and OKC focus on actually making the winning play and letting your teams best scorer go to work.

It's interesting how his defense still wasn't good even if his shot attempts were low recently, I saw some non Jokic-cultist Nuggets fans pointing that out in the Nuggets subreddit. You would think he would have more energy for defense when his shot attempts are so low at times? You will surely find another excuse for that as well. And for when he loses in the postseason again. It was the horses fault!

Wait, I have lost your point. Efficiency merchant or traffic cone. You Jokic-hater-cultist are sick. To dedicate your whole life on hating one player. Does this make you happy? Well I don't think so, but before you find better meaning of life it is all you have left. Right now he is loosing one game of 4 so you will have more happiness in your life.

BTW his shot attempts depend on offense he is creating. You know as a playmaker if you have heard of this word. And Nuggets offense is leading the league so I guess he knows what he is doing better than you. Or maybe not I see a lot of 12 years old experts here.

Hahaha. Why am I a hater? I literally just made a valid point about his shot attempts and defensive effort being too low at times.
I still have him 1A and 1B with SGA in the MVP race. I am only playfully jabbing at you guys for being so god damned sensitive about anything negative about Jokic, it's kind of hilarious. We are allowed to criticize him. I can criticize SGA as well, he pushes off and he foulbaits at times like the foul call he got against Murray last night. That's lame, but its how the game has "evolved" for better or worse, and way too many players like Brunson, SGA, Luka, Reaves and Mitchell do it. Jokic flops at times as well. Jordan pushed off on his famous 98 shot vs the Jazz as well so idk.

Jokic being a flopper and a defensive liability isn't even debatable at this point to anyone being objective. Lots of gaslighting going on around this guy for the last year or so.

Never gonna sit here and tell you Luka is a good defender.