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

[MMyhre]

Haha

Luka has never come close to being at Larry Legend's level. Larry did stuff like rebounding and defending, something Doncic is either too lazy or physically incapable of doing.

Luka highest rebounds per 36 minutes: 10.1, Larry Bird, 10.5 rebounds. Bird was a better rebounder and got more offensive rebounds, but it's not like Luka doesn't rebound. In terms of defending, yeah, Bird is better, but Luka is similar to Bird in that both are very good at making quick reads and finding steals, and I think a more fit Luka will have a more positive defensive season this year.

In terms of offensive playmaking, it's Luka. Scoring is also going to be Luka, because Larry just wasn't at his level on the volume scoring department, it's actually not even close when you factor in the postseason volume scoring. Luka is probably going to have a season so far above Bird in terms of offensive production this season, that I think he will surpass Larry Bird peak wise pretty handily if he keeps on going like this. He is just a remarkable scoring talent.

Brah Luka won't win one ring or MVP (like Bird did 3 x with both)

His scoring talent has never actually translated to playoff success either.

Luka's current offensive clip is not sustainable over 82 games plus playoffs, plus there is a lot more to being a great player than just a high volume scorer.

Luka made the finals.. how is that not playoff success?

Saying he will not win one ring or MVP is just silly, he has a decent chance at an MVP already this year. And it's no shame in winning one in these years, because the competition is better than ever.

[MMyhre]

My rankings as of now :
1 Wemby
2 Shai
3 Luka
4 Giannis
5 Jokic

One has to mention that the Kings scored 101 points against OKC, yet got 135 against the Bucks with basically the same amount of threes made. Giannis just doesn't have that defensive capacity and impact anymore, so even if the box score stats look good, his defensive impact is far below Wemby. The Kings shot 59.3 % from two and got 40 free throws, that just doesn't happen against Wemby.

That number was 46.4 % on twos against OKC, with just 21 free throw attempts for comparison to an elite defense.

Giannis also literally threw the game by throwing the ball off the rim on a drive without control in the possession where they could tie it.
It's a weird game from Giannis, only 26 points against the Kings and no elite defense, so where is your energy going here? Either you need to be high volume offense like Luka, or high volume defense like Wemby, he just got stuck somewhere in between in this game against an objectively bad team.

Still not a bad game overall, good playmaking and efficiency, but in this MVP race you can't lose too many games to teams like the Kings, Suns, Jazz, Nets or Wizards with a good but not great performance to stay in it.

[itsxtray]

My rankings as of now :
1 Wemby
2 Shai
3 Luka
4 Giannis
5 Jokic

One has to mention that the Kings scored 101 points against OKC, yet got 135 against the Bucks with basically the same amount of threes made. Giannis just doesn't have that defensive capacity and impact anymore, so even if the box score stats look good, his defensive impact is far below Wemby. The Kings shot 59.3 % from two and got 40 free throws, that just doesn't happen against Wemby.

That number was 46.4 % on twos against OKC, with just 21 free throw attempts for comparison to an elite defense.

Giannis also literally threw the game by throwing the ball off the rim on a drive without control in the possession where they could tie it.
It's a weird game from Giannis, only 26 points against the Kings and no elite defense, so where is your energy going here? Either you need to be high volume offense like Luka, or high volume defense like Wemby, he just got stuck somewhere in between in this game against an objectively bad team.

Still not a bad game overall, good playmaking and efficiency, but in this MVP race you can't lose too many games to teams like the Kings, Suns, Jazz, Nets or Wizards with a good but not great performance to stay in it.

Yeah, the end of this game was a disaster class from Giannis. Charging down the court when there's only a 4 second difference between shot and game clock and throwing the ball off the rim instead of showing it down and getting a good look. Also, he had inside position on Sabonis 3 times and Sabonis got an offensive rebound over him on all 3 possessions, I couldn't believe what I was watching.

[CobraCommander]

Sga lost his side kick and the team just keeps rolling - mvp vibes

[bbms]

Early xrapm is out

1 jokic
2 sga
Gap
3 doncic
4 Wemby (incredible 4.7 defensive xrapm)
5 giannis

Apparently nothing has changed that much. Only sengun in top 10

[Andri]

Sga lost his side kick and the team just keeps rolling - mvp vibes

A testament to the real MVP, OKC front office. It's not Shau hate, I truly believe they have been the very best during last seasons.

On other hand, SGA is a great great piece to the system. Luka or Jokic, they are the system. I don't imply this being better or worse.

[Handlez]

Doncic is the best player in basketball if fully healthy and locked in. Injuries are the only thing derailing serial MVPs and Larry Bird level comparisons.

Haha

Luka has never come close to being at Larry Legend's level. Larry did stuff like rebounding and defending, something Doncic is either too lazy or physically incapable of doing.

Did you really just say Luka doesn't rebound?

[Handlez]

Haha

Luka has never come close to being at Larry Legend's level. Larry did stuff like rebounding and defending, something Doncic is either too lazy or physically incapable of doing.

Luka highest rebounds per 36 minutes: 10.1, Larry Bird, 10.5 rebounds. Bird was a better rebounder and got more offensive rebounds, but it's not like Luka doesn't rebound. In terms of defending, yeah, Bird is better, but Luka is similar to Bird in that both are very good at making quick reads and finding steals, and I think a more fit Luka will have a more positive defensive season this year.

In terms of offensive playmaking, it's Luka. Scoring is also going to be Luka, because Larry just wasn't at his level on the volume scoring department, it's actually not even close when you factor in the postseason volume scoring. Luka is probably going to have a season so far above Bird in terms of offensive production this season, that I think he will surpass Larry Bird peak wise pretty handily if he keeps on going like this. He is just a remarkable scoring talent.

Brah Luka won't win one ring or MVP (like Bird did 3 x with both)

His scoring talent has never actually translated to playoff success either.

Luka's current offensive clip is not sustainable over 82 games plus playoffs, plus there is a lot more to being a great player than just a high volume scorer.

Did you really just talk about titles when Bird had some of the greatest rosters ever assembled?

And Luka's never had playoff success?

Clown show.

[MMyhre]

Sga lost his side kick and the team just keeps rolling - mvp vibes

A testament to the real MVP, OKC front office. It's not Shau hate, I truly believe they have been the very best during last seasons.

On other hand, SGA is a great great piece to the system. Luka or Jokic, they are the system. I don't imply this being better or worse.

Shai has had better on/off numbers than Luka, and was comparable to Jokic last season. He is the system for OKC, and their offense went from straight up bad without him to elite with him last season.

[Infinite Llamas]

My rankings as of now :
1 Wemby
2 Shai
3 Luka
4 Giannis
5 Jokic

One has to mention that the Kings scored 101 points against OKC, yet got 135 against the Bucks with basically the same amount of threes made. Giannis just doesn't have that defensive capacity and impact anymore, so even if the box score stats look good, his defensive impact is far below Wemby. The Kings shot 59.3 % from two and got 40 free throws, that just doesn't happen against Wemby.

That number was 46.4 % on twos against OKC, with just 21 free throw attempts for comparison to an elite defense.

Giannis also literally threw the game by throwing the ball off the rim on a drive without control in the possession where they could tie it.
It's a weird game from Giannis, only 26 points against the Kings and no elite defense, so where is your energy going here? Either you need to be high volume offense like Luka, or high volume defense like Wemby, he just got stuck somewhere in between in this game against an objectively bad team.

Still not a bad game overall, good playmaking and efficiency, but in this MVP race you can't lose too many games to teams like the Kings, Suns, Jazz, Nets or Wizards with a good but not great performance to stay in it.

Yeah, the end of this game was a disaster class from Giannis. Charging down the court when there's only a 4 second difference between shot and game clock and throwing the ball off the rim instead of showing it down and getting a good look. Also, he had inside position on Sabonis 3 times and Sabonis got an offensive rebound over him on all 3 possessions, I couldn't believe what I was watching.

I only saw a bit of the game and my takeaway was that Giannis benefitted a lot from having Brook boxing out opponents. Turner is a poor rebounder and Giannis didn’t look great on the boards.

[MaliBrah]

Sga lost his side kick and the team just keeps rolling - mvp vibes

A testament to the real MVP, OKC front office. It's not Shau hate, I truly believe they have been the very best during last seasons.

On other hand, SGA is a great great piece to the system. Luka or Jokic, they are the system. I don't imply this being better or worse.

You don't watch basketball. He carries a ridiculous offensive scoring and self creation load for a team heavily defensively slanted. He is the system for OKC , theres no other way they'd stay afloat offensively

[Andri]

Sga lost his side kick and the team just keeps rolling - mvp vibes

A testament to the real MVP, OKC front office. It's not Shau hate, I truly believe they have been the very best during last seasons.

On other hand, SGA is a great great piece to the system. Luka or Jokic, they are the system. I don't imply this being better or worse.

You don't watch basketball. He carries a ridiculous offensive scoring and self creation load for a team heavily defensively slanted. He is the system for OKC , theres no other way they'd stay afloat offensively

Thanks for a very informed opinion on how much basketball I watch.

You get so defensive, I don't find you worthy of a response.

Enjoy!

[MaliBrah]

A testament to the real MVP, OKC front office. It's not Shau hate, I truly believe they have been the very best during last seasons.

On other hand, SGA is a great great piece to the system. Luka or Jokic, they are the system. I don't imply this being better or worse.

You don't watch basketball. He carries a ridiculous offensive scoring and self creation load for a team heavily defensively slanted. He is the system for OKC , theres no other way they'd stay afloat offensively

Thanks for a very informed opinion on how much basketball I watch.

You get so defensive, I don't find you worthy of a response.

Enjoy!

You don't have a rebuttal when you're hilarious opinion got called out , enjoy your sunday

[MaliBrah]

OKC is missing Chet and JDub and Shai is still sitting out 4th quarters lol

[Andri]

You don't watch basketball. He carries a ridiculous offensive scoring and self creation load for a team heavily defensively slanted. He is the system for OKC , theres no other way they'd stay afloat offensively

Thanks for a very informed opinion on how much basketball I watch.

You get so defensive, I don't find you worthy of a response.

Enjoy!

You don't have a rebuttal when you're hilarious opinion got called out , enjoy your sunday

On point Brah!

[CobraCommander]

A testament to the real MVP, OKC front office. It's not Shau hate, I truly believe they have been the very best during last seasons.

On other hand, SGA is a great great piece to the system. Luka or Jokic, they are the system. I don't imply this being better or worse.

You don't watch basketball. He carries a ridiculous offensive scoring and self creation load for a team heavily defensively slanted. He is the system for OKC , theres no other way they'd stay afloat offensively

Thanks for a very informed opinion on how much basketball I watch.

You get so defensive, I don't find you worthy of a response.

Enjoy!

but the point that Shai isn't carrying the team when he led the league in scoring does seem uniformed...calling luka the system when AR drops 50 on better numbers while Luka is out and Brunson leads the mavs to wins against Utah in the playoffs without luka then goes to the Knicks and leads a winning team in scoring when he leaves luka, makes it also sound like you are a fan of luka but not looking at the facts that his scoring isn't different than SGAs... He takes 20+ shots at a decent % and thus scores a ton....like SGA... jokic is the system...but luka, AR and Lebron do the same damn thing as harden and all the other ball dominant big guards...none of these guys are doing something different...they just doing a good job at it

Jokic is different...jokic can control a game taking 5- 10 or 20 shots...Luka and SGA are part of a system that says...take the ball and initiate the offense - shoot or pass it...your call...and they decide to shoot more time that not....dribble dribble dribble...thats the system

[CobraCommander]

OKC is missing Chet and JDub and Shai is still sitting out 4th quarters lol

cause he the mvp

[CobraCommander]

Thanks for a very informed opinion on how much basketball I watch.

You get so defensive, I don't find you worthy of a response.

Enjoy!

You don't have a rebuttal when you're hilarious opinion got called out , enjoy your sunday

On point Brah!

yo....SGA just dropped 30 on 14 shots...with a +24 without his best teammates.........against the absolute worse team in professional sports. the Pels need to grab Kuzma and Ja and ask John Wall to come out of retirement to be the locker room vet so they can be officially to dumbest squad in professional sports. this game was an embarrassment to American sports and I love SGA, but this game, as good as it was, proved nothing to the mvp conversation....winning or losing to the Pels shouldn't count because you look at that roster and its talent and you go...they could be a problem...but then they play and depending on the possession, this team is amazing or clueless...and today it was mostly if not all clueless behavior...

as a wizards fan, I feel bad for the Pels fans...cause at least the wizards are trying and they are just not that talented...the Pels are out there playing like Billups made a call.

[Handlez]

Wemby cooked.

MVPs don't have games this bad.

[kane0801]

SGA is the MVP front runner no doubt,He lead the team 7-0 undefeat so far mostly without Jdub and Chet