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

[Primedeion]

Efficiency was never his aim but he excellent scoring efficiency throughout his prime. 106 TS+ from 01-09 , and a career scoring efficiency mark (+1.9 ) that's slightly worse than Larry Bird's (+2.7). The rest of your post is just regurgitating a bunch of nonsense narratives.

I stand by my comment, I never said Kobe wasn't effecient, I even think he was one of the best shot makers in history, I still say, and don't think it's controversial, that Kobe never optimized his shot diet and took a lot of difficult shots.
Now, for your TS+, absolutely, Kobe was effecient scorer, but he shot less than 107+ for all of his 1st option career, compare that to who I do think SGA resembles in shot diet and approach,

Nobody cares about your arbitrary standards. He was at 106 TS+ from 01-09, which is very good scoring efficiency, and then he was at 107 TS+ in the 2010 postseason. Basically his scoring efficiency was consistently excellent over his ten year prime outside of the 2010 RS where he was riddled with injuries (and even then he was above average). As far Shai, the man is 27 years old and hasn't had a single postseason where his relative TS topped +0.5.

A +1 rTS or above is totally foreign territory to Shai when it actually matters lol.

In fact, let's look at the career postseason scoring numbers
for Shai and Kobe.

Kobe: 29.8 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+2.7 relative TS
Shai: 25.7 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+0.5 relative TS

Not even close lol. And that's with Kobe having a faaaaaaaaaar greater sample size.

*postseason efficiency adjusted for opponent defense

Keep bragging about those regular season stats tho.

[Rdude22]

Yea, Shai’s just playing better basketball than Luka right now.

Luka’s 35ppg and 9apg are great, but it’s on 23 shots, 4 turnovers, and 48/34/80 splits

Whereas Shai’s 33ppg and 6.5apg are on 20 shots, 1.7 TOs, and 55/43/88 splits

Shai is p4p the better scorer, shooter, and passer than Luka point blank. Luka just shoots more and plays more minutes.

[Mavrelous]

Nobody cares about your arbitrary standards.
He was at 106 TS+ from 01-09, which is very good scoring efficiency, and then he was at 107 TS+ in the 2010 postseason. Basically his scoring efficiency was consistently excellent over his ten year prime outside of the 2010 RS where he was riddled with injuries (and even then he was above average). As far Shai, the man is 27 years old and hasn't had a single postseason where his relative TS topped +0.5.

A +1 rTS or above is totally foreign territory to Shai when it actually matters lol.

Well, I care about my standards, and Kobe wasn't "excellent" and 110+ TS+ is a tier above 104-107 range of TS+

In fact, let's look at the career postseason scoring numbers
for Shai and Kobe.

Kobe: 29.8 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+2.7 relative TS
Shai: 25.7 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+0.5 relative TS

Not even close lol. And that's with Kobe having a faaaaaaaaaar greater sample size.

*postseason efficiency adjusted for opponent defense

Keep bragging about those regular season stats tho.

Yeah, totally agree, SGA effeciency tanks in the post season in his 2 runs, he hasn't been effecient post season player, and he was carried by his teams insane defense and some great shooting performances, for him to be considered the great scorer he shows he is in the RS, he needs to start delivering in the post season.

See? When it comes to scoring effeciency, numbers can be pretty convincing, regardless of who our favourite player is.

[Rdude22]

Right now, I’d give it to Shai. 33/5/7 on absurd efficiency for a team that’s lost one game out of twenty. If the win 70 which looks increasingly likely with each passing week, then I think it’s certainly him.

Jokic is a razor close second. 29/13/11 on 73%TS is just nasty work. Still, if the Thunder win like 72 games and the Nuggets win 57 — that’s too big a gap for me win-wise to give him the MVP.

Luka’s 3rd. Cunningham 4th.

Yea, this is where I stand.

To me, the most valuable prize in the NBA is NBA champion and I’ll lean towards any top tier player that’s leading his team to the front of the race for that prize.

Now if the race is close and the guy in 2nd or 3rd place (seeding-wise) has more impressive numbers, then I feel that changes things. But if the gap between 1 and everyone else becomes so wide, then yea…

It’s not Jokic numbers but, at the same time, avg’n prime ‘90s Jordan and ‘16 Curry numbers and efficiency ain’t nothing to sneeze at either lol while also being #1 in win shares and clutch scoring.

[Optms]

Shai too clutch. Luka in shambles. Smh.

[Primedeion]

Nobody cares about your arbitrary standards.
He was at 106 TS+ from 01-09, which is very good scoring efficiency, and then he was at 107 TS+ in the 2010 postseason. Basically his scoring efficiency was consistently excellent over his ten year prime outside of the 2010 RS where he was riddled with injuries (and even then he was above average). As far Shai, the man is 27 years old and hasn't had a single postseason where his relative TS topped +0.5.

A +1 rTS or above is totally foreign territory to Shai when it actually matters lol.

Well, I care about my standards, and Kobe wasn't "excellent" and 110+ TS+ is a tier above 104-107 range of TS+

In fact, let's look at the career postseason scoring numbers
for Shai and Kobe.

Kobe: 29.8 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+2.7 relative TS
Shai: 25.7 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+0.5 relative TS

Not even close lol. And that's with Kobe having a faaaaaaaaaar greater sample size.

*postseason efficiency adjusted for opponent defense

Keep bragging about those regular season stats tho.

Yeah, totally agree, SGA effeciency tanks in the post season in his 2 runs, he hasn't been effecient post season player, and he was carried by his teams insane defense and some great shooting performances, for him to be considered the great scorer he shows he is in the RS, he needs to start delivering in the post season.

See? When it comes to scoring effeciency, numbers can be pretty convincing, regardless of who our favourite player is.

Nah. A 106 TS+ is excellent/very good, and not something that Kobe would have put up for a decade if his shot "diet" was anywhere near as bad as you're trying to portray. Nice hyperbole tho. Call me when Shai stops seeing his scoring efficiency fall a cliff in the postseason.

[bbms]

To put things in context, it is widely accepted that the best guard season of the modern era in Steph 2016 season, this is the H2H comparison
https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/basketball/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&seasons_type=perchoice&player_id1=gilgesh01&p1yrfrom=2026&p1yrto=2026&player_id2=curryst01&p2yrfrom=2016&p2yrto=2016

extrapolating to full season, this is easily better season.
This isn't about OKC record, this is an outlier among outliers in terms of production.

4 more points/100 on half the turnover rate and almost identical ast% and ast/100... equaling 140 ortg vs 125 ortg. just insane.

Yeah, totally agree, SGA effeciency tanks in the post season in his 2 runs, he hasn't been effecient post season player, and he was carried by his teams insane defense and some great shooting performances, for him to be considered the great scorer he shows he is in the RS, he needs to start delivering in the post season.

See? When it comes to scoring effeciency, numbers can be pretty convincing, regardless of who our favourite player is.

this is something sga stated to press he agrees with, truth be told the thunder struggled vs heavy zone. also shout out to carlisle and pacers that came up with a very physical defense, made the thunder drink their own poison. also some stinkers in the grizzlies series.

i do think overall he's been a successful playoff performer, just having experiences on different gimmicky schemes for the first time that made he more mistake prone. i'm confident he'll build on his performance.

[MMyhre]

Efficiency was never his aim but he excellent scoring efficiency throughout his prime. 106 TS+ from 01-09 , and a career scoring efficiency mark (+1.9 ) that's slightly worse than Larry Bird's (+2.7). The rest of your post is just regurgitating a bunch of nonsense narratives.

I stand by my comment, I never said Kobe wasn't effecient, I even think he was one of the best shot makers in history, I still say, and don't think it's controversial, that Kobe never optimized his shot diet and took a lot of difficult shots.
Now, for your TS+, absolutely, Kobe was effecient scorer, but he shot less than 107+ for all of his 1st option career, compare that to who I do think SGA resembles in shot diet and approach,

Nobody cares about your arbitrary standards. He was at 106 TS+ from 01-09, which is very good scoring efficiency, and then he was at 107 TS+ in the 2010 postseason. Basically his scoring efficiency was consistently excellent over his ten year prime outside of the 2010 RS where he was riddled with injuries (and even then he was above average). As far Shai, the man is 27 years old and hasn't had a single postseason where his relative TS topped +0.5.

A +1 rTS or above is totally foreign territory to Shai when it actually matters lol.

In fact, let's look at the career postseason scoring numbers
for Shai and Kobe.

Kobe: 29.8 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+2.7 relative TS
Shai: 25.7 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+0.5 relative TS

Not even close lol. And that's with Kobe having a faaaaaaaaaar greater sample size.

*postseason efficiency adjusted for opponent defense

Keep bragging about those regular season stats tho.

Can you stop arguing so douchey? You write like an ****. He has a great point, Kobe took a lot of bad shots. Also comparing total playoff games is ridiculous when Shai was a rookie and a sophomore playing in the postseason. Compare it to the last two seasons and the best of Kobe.

[MMyhre]

Nobody cares about your arbitrary standards.
He was at 106 TS+ from 01-09, which is very good scoring efficiency, and then he was at 107 TS+ in the 2010 postseason. Basically his scoring efficiency was consistently excellent over his ten year prime outside of the 2010 RS where he was riddled with injuries (and even then he was above average). As far Shai, the man is 27 years old and hasn't had a single postseason where his relative TS topped +0.5.

A +1 rTS or above is totally foreign territory to Shai when it actually matters lol.

Well, I care about my standards, and Kobe wasn't "excellent" and 110+ TS+ is a tier above 104-107 range of TS+

In fact, let's look at the career postseason scoring numbers
for Shai and Kobe.

Kobe: 29.8 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+2.7 relative TS
Shai: 25.7 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+0.5 relative TS

Not even close lol. And that's with Kobe having a faaaaaaaaaar greater sample size.

*postseason efficiency adjusted for opponent defense

Keep bragging about those regular season stats tho.

Yeah, totally agree, SGA effeciency tanks in the post season in his 2 runs, he hasn't been effecient post season player, and he was carried by his teams insane defense and some great shooting performances, for him to be considered the great scorer he shows he is in the RS, he needs to start delivering in the post season.

See? When it comes to scoring effeciency, numbers can be pretty convincing, regardless of who our favourite player is.

Nah. A 106 TS+ is excellent/very good, and not something that Kobe would have put up for a decade if his shot "diet" was anywhere near as bad as you're trying to portray. Nice hyperbole tho. Call me when Shai stops seeing his scoring efficiency fall a cliff in the postseason.

Almost everybodys ts % drops in the postseason though. He went from 63.6 ts % in the reg season in 23-24 to 58.2 ts % in 10 games in the postseason. Hardly falling of a cliff.

I am sure with his improved game and three ball this season, he will shut up that rude mouth of yours. Let's see if you're still barking as proudly come may, or going missing.

[CobraCommander]

Yeah but you forgot about Luka’s rebounds

Well 11 rebounds in 3 quarters vs 3 rebounds in 4 quarters is a significant difference but not that surprising as Luka is a much better rebounder than SGA. Luka is 19th in rebounds per game while SGA is 98th. Luka is also a much better playmaker and passer, he's currently 4th in assists per game while SGA is only 16th. It's not that close. But the SGA Stans says he's more efficient so we've to ignore all that.

No one is saying he is more efficient, he is more efficient. It’s not an opinion, we have the numbers.

Luka’s efficiency is good this year, Shai’s is just other worldly.

Shai also takes care of the ball, sporting a 6.6% TOV % to Luka’s 13.5%.

Luka is playing great he’s just not in the upper tier with SGA this season.

SGAs efficiency is better than those rebound right? a rebound to luka leads to a faster start of the offense...but a rebound to Jokic is even better...im saying its Jokic > SGA > Luka right now... its not like Luka is fat and overweight and not playing defense. Luka has been great this year by all accounts... there can be only one MVP...so at this point it's jokic....sga is second...and luka is 3rd and giannis is 4th....and it's really about who is coming in second and 3rd

[MMyhre]

Shai started the season very hot, and every game I think he'll cool down yet he continues to light it up still.

54.8/43.4/87.9 as of now. I still don't think he'll keep this up, but if he somewhat does, this season will be up there all time for guards.

Simply incredible.

He started the season ice cold from three, so it's hard to tell if this is his real level or a hot streak or if he is somewhere in between. OKC will be almost unbeatable if he starts hitting threes like this in the clutch in the playoffs.

[bbms]

I stand by my comment, I never said Kobe wasn't effecient, I even think he was one of the best shot makers in history, I still say, and don't think it's controversial, that Kobe never optimized his shot diet and took a lot of difficult shots.
Now, for your TS+, absolutely, Kobe was effecient scorer, but he shot less than 107+ for all of his 1st option career, compare that to who I do think SGA resembles in shot diet and approach,

Nobody cares about your arbitrary standards. He was at 106 TS+ from 01-09, which is very good scoring efficiency, and then he was at 107 TS+ in the 2010 postseason. Basically his scoring efficiency was consistently excellent over his ten year prime outside of the 2010 RS where he was riddled with injuries (and even then he was above average). As far Shai, the man is 27 years old and hasn't had a single postseason where his relative TS topped +0.5.

A +1 rTS or above is totally foreign territory to Shai when it actually matters lol.

In fact, let's look at the career postseason scoring numbers
for Shai and Kobe.

Kobe: 29.8 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+2.7 relative TS
Shai: 25.7 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+0.5 relative TS

Not even close lol. And that's with Kobe having a faaaaaaaaaar greater sample size.

*postseason efficiency adjusted for opponent defense

Keep bragging about those regular season stats tho.

Can you stop arguing so douchey? You write like an ****. He has a great point, Kobe took a lot of bad shots. Also comparing total playoff games is ridiculous when Shai was a rookie and a sophomore playing in the postseason. Compare it to the last two seasons and the best of Kobe.

tbf shai takes tons of shots that are considered bad by analysts from the past 10 years. since harden cracked the code for extremely efficient scoring (attemps at the rim, attempts from three, minimal mid range shots just to keep defenses honest). what separates imo is that shai is nailing the execution of those kobe shots and using them in a more tactically sound manner. someone compared shai to dirk and that's cool too. shai is like a modernization of both approaches simultaneously.

[MMyhre]

Nobody cares about your arbitrary standards. He was at 106 TS+ from 01-09, which is very good scoring efficiency, and then he was at 107 TS+ in the 2010 postseason. Basically his scoring efficiency was consistently excellent over his ten year prime outside of the 2010 RS where he was riddled with injuries (and even then he was above average). As far Shai, the man is 27 years old and hasn't had a single postseason where his relative TS topped +0.5.

A +1 rTS or above is totally foreign territory to Shai when it actually matters lol.

In fact, let's look at the career postseason scoring numbers
for Shai and Kobe.

Kobe: 29.8 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+2.7 relative TS
Shai: 25.7 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+0.5 relative TS

Not even close lol. And that's with Kobe having a faaaaaaaaaar greater sample size.

*postseason efficiency adjusted for opponent defense

Keep bragging about those regular season stats tho.

Can you stop arguing so douchey? You write like an ****. He has a great point, Kobe took a lot of bad shots. Also comparing total playoff games is ridiculous when Shai was a rookie and a sophomore playing in the postseason. Compare it to the last two seasons and the best of Kobe.

tbf shai takes tons of shots that are considered bad by analysts from the past 10 years. since harden cracked the code for extremely efficient scoring (attemps at the rim, attempts from three, minimal mid range shots just to keep defenses honest). what separates imo is that shai is nailing the execution of those kobe shots and using them in a more tactically sound manner. someone compared shai to dirk and that's cool too. shai is like a modernization of both approaches simultaneously.

No, he doesn't really. Not compared to the shot difficulty of Kobe, who loved fadeaways, even from three. Shai very rarely goes out of his way to take crazy difficult shots. Shai plays the shorter midrange game with a much smarter approach to shot selection. Kobe took a lot of tougher, longer midrange shots, often fading away. The toughest shots Shai takes are usually step-back threes, but that is likely because he wanted to master them, so he needed to take them more often to figure it out.

[lethalizer]

Shai started the season very hot, and every game I think he'll cool down yet he continues to light it up still.

54.8/43.4/87.9 as of now. I still don't think he'll keep this up, but if he somewhat does, this season will be up there all time for guards.

Simply incredible.

He started the season ice cold from three, so it's hard to tell if this is his real level or a hot streak or if he is somewhere in between. OKC will be almost unbeatable if he starts hitting threes like this in the clutch in the playoffs.

Eh, he was still at 35% after the first 10 games.

Last season it was worse, 26.4% after the first 10 games with comparable volume. He really had to grind after the ASB to finish with his 37.5% end of the season average.

Shot looks much smoother as the years go by, I do think he'll have a 40%+ season at some point, hopefully it's this season.

[Ambrose]

The only way they don’t win over 50 gams is a freak injury like KPJ had last nite who is a better fit next to Giannis then Dame was. But even with out for a little bit they are better then you think so you bookmark it too

You're already strawmanning. I never said anything about winning 50 games. The 4th seed in the East last year won 50 games. Everything I said would still be right.

I said over 50 games my prediction got this team healthy was 58 wins I doubt that will be 4th seed

Bookmarked

[hagredionis]

How good is Jokic's playmaking? I often read here that Jokic is the best playmaker in the NBA, a GOAT level playmaker who elevates his teammates like no other player but today I've noticed that MPJ went from averaging 17 / 18 ppg in Denver to 25 ppg this season.

[mademan]

How good is Jokic's playmaking? I often read here that Jokic is the best playmaker in the NBA, a GOAT level playmaker who elevates his teammates like no other player but today I've noticed that MPJ went from averaging 17 / 18 ppg in Denver to 25 ppg this season.

Denver has the best offense in the league; thats how good Jokic's playmaking is. While he is escaping some due criticism on defense, he's been absolutely brilliant on offense this year.

[Primedeion]

I stand by my comment, I never said Kobe wasn't effecient, I even think he was one of the best shot makers in history, I still say, and don't think it's controversial, that Kobe never optimized his shot diet and took a lot of difficult shots.
Now, for your TS+, absolutely, Kobe was effecient scorer, but he shot less than 107+ for all of his 1st option career, compare that to who I do think SGA resembles in shot diet and approach,

Nobody cares about your arbitrary standards. He was at 106 TS+ from 01-09, which is very good scoring efficiency, and then he was at 107 TS+ in the 2010 postseason. Basically his scoring efficiency was consistently excellent over his ten year prime outside of the 2010 RS where he was riddled with injuries (and even then he was above average). As far Shai, the man is 27 years old and hasn't had a single postseason where his relative TS topped +0.5.

A +1 rTS or above is totally foreign territory to Shai when it actually matters lol.

In fact, let's look at the career postseason scoring numbers
for Shai and Kobe.

Kobe: 29.8 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+2.7 relative TS
Shai: 25.7 inflation adjusted pts per 75/+0.5 relative TS

Not even close lol. And that's with Kobe having a faaaaaaaaaar greater sample size.

*postseason efficiency adjusted for opponent defense

Keep bragging about those regular season stats tho.

Can you stop arguing so douchey? You write like an ****. He has a great point, Kobe took a lot of bad shots. Also comparing total playoff games is ridiculous when Shai was a rookie and a sophomore playing in the postseason. Compare it to the last two seasons and the best of Kobe.

Nothing wrong with the way I write and guys who post consistently very good efficiency throughout their prime --Kobe's 106 TS+ from is right there with Larry's Bird 106 TS+ from 1980-1988-- don't take a lot of "bad" shots but nice try.

The fact that Kobe obliterates Shai as a postseason scorer despite playing faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar more games just makes Shai look even weaker lol. Again, call me when Shai stops seeing his scoring efficiency fall off a cliff when it really matters.

[Primedeion]

Well, I care about my standards, and Kobe wasn't "excellent" and 110+ TS+ is a tier above 104-107 range of TS+




Yeah, totally agree, SGA effeciency tanks in the post season in his 2 runs, he hasn't been effecient post season player, and he was carried by his teams insane defense and some great shooting performances, for him to be considered the great scorer he shows he is in the RS, he needs to start delivering in the post season.

See? When it comes to scoring effeciency, numbers can be pretty convincing, regardless of who our favourite player is.

Nah. A 106 TS+ is excellent/very good, and not something that Kobe would have put up for a decade if his shot "diet" was anywhere near as bad as you're trying to portray. Nice hyperbole tho. Call me when Shai stops seeing his scoring efficiency fall a cliff in the postseason.

Almost everybodys ts % drops in the postseason though. He went from 63.6 ts % in the reg season in 23-24 to 58.2 ts % in 10 games in the postseason. Hardly falling of a cliff.

I am sure with his improved game and three ball this season, he will shut up that rude mouth of yours. Let's see if you're still barking as proudly come may, or going missing.

No they don't. Shai falls off a cliff. Plenty of greats have maintained their numbers in the postseason or even improved.

Last season Shai went from being a +6 rTS in the RS to a measly +0.5 in the postseason (opponent -adjusted). We see something similar in 2024. He also anchored a pathetic +1.3 relative offensive rating but luckily the team defense was still good enough to win it all.

I'll be here no matter happens, buddy. It's not that serious.

[bbms]

just one turnover