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

[RB34]

Pretty massive game for Joker in the scheme of things. Considering how historic SGA and the Thunder have been, to be only 4.5 games back is huge for Denver.

Hopefully we get a few more games like OKC v SAS and HOU v DEN. Great to watch.

[Exp0sed]

Pretty massive game for Joker in the scheme of things. Considering how historic SGA and the Thunder have been, to be only 4.5 games back is huge for Denver.

Hopefully we get a few more games like OKC v SAS and HOU v DEN. Great to watch.

Spurs and Thunder will be matching up a few more times in the next couple of weeks and the Rockets will get a chance at revenge, this Sunday in Denver

It was def a big win for Jokic's case, because if the Nuggets are 10-15 games back like they were last season, It has to be SGA. If the teams are closer, the debate gets more interesting

[QPR]

If Denver can stay within 5-6 games of OKC while Braun and Gordon are out then it's a very tight race

[TinmanZBoy]

Joker’s stats is still getting better if you think last season is already at the height nobody could touch… this is insane

[B-easy]

Pretty massive game for Joker in the scheme of things. Considering how historic SGA and the Thunder have been, to be only 4.5 games back is huge for Denver.

Hopefully we get a few more games like OKC v SAS and HOU v DEN. Great to watch.

OKC is 6-1 against >0.500 teams DEN is 8-1.

[UglyBugBall]

When someone claims SGA deserves MVP, the argument starts and ends with team record. When someone claims Jokic deserves MVP, the argument starts and ends with him having arguably the best individual season in the history of the NBA. That’s the difference.

Point of basketball is to win, so Jokic cant have the best individual season if he's worse at the very point of the game than SGA is.

[lethalizer]

Pretty massive game for Joker in the scheme of things. Considering how historic SGA and the Thunder have been, to be only 4.5 games back is huge for Denver.

Hopefully we get a few more games like OKC v SAS and HOU v DEN. Great to watch.

OKC is 6-1 against >0.500 teams DEN is 8-1.

Yeah for some reason the Nuggets have some, I guess you could say concentration issues, when it comes to some bad teams.

They were "regular season swept" by the Bulls and the Wizards last season as well.

OKC's floor is just higher than them when it comes to regular season as the Thunder very rarely lose to bad teams. The last truly bad regular season loss I can think of for this version of OKC is probably March 1, 2023 against the 12-48 Spurs. You don't see it a lot.

Anyway, my vote is currently switched back to Jokic. I still had this as a somewhat three man race looking at the MVP odd themselves too, but I just can't include Luka here anymore looking at this body language and the Lakers winning every clutch game imaginable. That should regress to the mean at some point.

[Bloodbather]

When someone claims SGA deserves MVP, the argument starts and ends with team record. When someone claims Jokic deserves MVP, the argument starts and ends with him having arguably the best individual season in the history of the NBA. That’s the difference.

Point of basketball is to win, so Jokic cant have the best individual season if he's worse at the very point of the game than SGA is.

This isn’t tennis.

[bstein14]

Not only is Cade Cunningham leading the East, but he's also leading the league in a very important defensive stat.

Lowest allowed FG% (min 300 attempts defended) in the entire league right not giving up less than 41% to players he is defending.

That should at least get him a spot on the poll, even if he's likely to finish in 4th or 5th place in this race.

We are almost at 100 pages now, so its time to lock this one up and to add Cunningham to the list and remove guys like Davis and Mobley.

Wemby and Giannis looking like its likely they won't have enough games played.... your probably only need a poll with five options...

Jokic
SGA
Luka
Cade
Other

[Castle Black]

Read on Twitter

[falcolombardi]

When someone claims SGA deserves MVP, the argument starts and ends with team record. When someone claims Jokic deserves MVP, the argument starts and ends with him having arguably the best individual season in the history of the NBA. That’s the difference.

Point of basketball is to win, so Jokic cant have the best individual season if he's worse at the very point of the game than SGA is.

This isn’t tennis.

I would argue is not a boxscore stat aggregating game either, but a lot of the recent discussion has gone full on that

BPM, PER and win shares have made a unlikely return to relevance too

[Optms]

When someone claims SGA deserves MVP, the argument starts and ends with team record. When someone claims Jokic deserves MVP, the argument starts and ends with him having arguably the best individual season in the history of the NBA. That’s the difference.

Point of basketball is to win, so Jokic cant have the best individual season if he's worse at the very point of the game than SGA is.

No one but Jokics cult are even saying he's having the best individual season of all time. Which if we're being honest, they claim every year. So that statement can't be taken at face value due to the homerism involved.

Shai is the MVP because his numbers are not just all time great, but he's anchoring a 70 win team. And yes team record matters, because we've already gone through the list of guys who've done it. Jordan and Curry. And that is basically it.

You need an All-time level season to anchor one. And that is what Shai is doing. So its completely disingenuous to say Shai isn't having one of the GOAT seasons. He's having a better individual season than Jokic and frankly its not even close. If the Thunder win 70, Shai wins MVP and Finals MVP, it will be one of the GOAT seasons. Right up there with peak Michael Jordan and Lebron. Only Wemby/Spurs can dethrone this train.

[Manimal]

30/12/11 on 72% true shooting is absurd. 143 Ortg, 35.9 PER, .393 ws/48, 16.8 BPM. Of course leading the league in all of them, as they're all-time records as well. All while leading a team missing half it's rotation to injury to a current 11 game road win streak and a 62 win pace. Most dominant season of all time thus far.

[RB34]

30/12/11 on 72% true shooting is absurd. 143 Ortg, 35.9 PER, .393 ws/48, 16.8 BPM. Of course leading the league in all of them, as they're all-time records as well. All while leading a team missing half it's rotation to injury to a current 11 game road win streak and a 62 win pace. Most dominant season of all time thus far.

You’re not allowed to use those stats in here, it’s been written.

[Infinite Llamas]

When someone claims SGA deserves MVP, the argument starts and ends with team record. When someone claims Jokic deserves MVP, the argument starts and ends with him having arguably the best individual season in the history of the NBA. That’s the difference.

Point of basketball is to win, so Jokic cant have the best individual season if he's worse at the very point of the game than SGA is.

No one but Jokics cult are even saying he's having the best individual season of all time. Which if we're being honest, they claim every year. So that statement can't be taken at face value due to the homerism involved.

Shai is the MVP because his numbers are not just all time great, but he's anchoring a 70 win team. And yes team record matters, because we've already gone through the list of guys who've done it. Jordan and Curry. And that is basically it.

You need an All-time level season to anchor one. And that is what Shai is doing. So its completely disingenuous to say Shai isn't having one of the GOAT seasons. He's having a better individual season than Jokic and frankly its not even close. If the Thunder win 70, Shai wins MVP and Finals MVP, it will be one of the GOAT seasons. Right up there with peak Michael Jordan and Lebron. Only Wemby/Spurs can dethrone this train.

They are 46 wins away from 70 right now. Talk about putting the cart before the horse lmao

[Ssj16]

When someone claims SGA deserves MVP, the argument starts and ends with team record. When someone claims Jokic deserves MVP, the argument starts and ends with him having arguably the best individual season in the history of the NBA. That’s the difference.

Point of basketball is to win, so Jokic cant have the best individual season if he's worse at the very point of the game than SGA is.

No one but Jokics cult are even saying he's having the best individual season of all time. Which if we're being honest, they claim every year. So that statement can't be taken at face value due to the homerism involved.

Shai is the MVP because his numbers are not just all time great, but he's anchoring a 70 win team. And yes team record matters, because we've already gone through the list of guys who've done it. Jordan and Curry. And that is basically it.

You need an All-time level season to anchor one. And that is what Shai is doing. So its completely disingenuous to say Shai isn't having one of the GOAT seasons. He's having a better individual season than Jokic and frankly its not even close. If the Thunder win 70, Shai wins MVP and Finals MVP, it will be one of the GOAT seasons. Right up there with peak Michael Jordan and Lebron. Only Wemby/Spurs can dethrone this train.

Couple of sites that have Jokic ranked as the best player. I guess they are Jokic Cultist as well.

https://nbarankings.theringer.com/
https://basketballmonster.com/PlayerRankings.aspx

[lethalizer]

30/12/11 on 72% true shooting is absurd. 143 Ortg, 35.9 PER, .393 ws/48, 16.8 BPM. Of course leading the league in all of them, as they're all-time records as well. All while leading a team missing half it's rotation to injury to a current 11 game road win streak and a 62 win pace. Most dominant season of all time thus far.

You’re not allowed to use those stats in here, it’s been written.

Of course you're allowed to say a player is leading the league in Ortg.

One small problem though, NBA.com has Peyton Watson has the official no.1 Ortg player, not Jokic.

So yeah, Watson is the best offensive player in the league thus far. Glad we could clear this up.

[MrBigShot]

I think it's going to be a close race. SGA has been so good he's actually putting last season to shame, and he put together one of the greatest regular seasons for a guard ever last year.

Meanwhile Jokic is doing things we never thought possible. 30 point triple double on 61/43/84 shooting splits and making it look effortless. This season doesn't even rank in the top 4 for his highest shot attempts per game, and yet he's scoring more than ever. That fact that he shoots 61% from the field while taking 34% of his shots from 3 to 10 ft and 29% from 3 is unreal.

[RB34]

30/12/11 on 72% true shooting is absurd. 143 Ortg, 35.9 PER, .393 ws/48, 16.8 BPM. Of course leading the league in all of them, as they're all-time records as well. All while leading a team missing half it's rotation to injury to a current 11 game road win streak and a 62 win pace. Most dominant season of all time thus far.

You’re not allowed to use those stats in here, it’s been written.

Of course you're allowed to say a player is leading the league in Ortg.

One small problem though, NBA.com has Peyton Watson has the official no.1 Ortg player, not Jokic.

So yeah, Watson is the best offensive player in the league thus far. Glad we could clear this up.

I guess that’s why we shouldn’t boil the whole conversation down to a single stat and instead look at the entire picture in context.

[JordansBulls]

Jokic already has won 3 MVP's without having a #1 seed in any of the years. No one has had a 4th or more MVP without the top seed and Jokic hasn't won any MVP as a #1 seed.