NBA MVP straw ballot: Why each sport counts for SGA, Jokic, extra stars

Regardless of all of the drama surrounding NBA star accidents and availability this season, it hasn’t modified the highest of the Most Helpful Participant race.

For now.

In ESPN’s second MVP straw ballot of the 2025-26 season — a present snapshot of the race utilizing a panel of 100 native, nationwide and worldwide media members surveyed this week — Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander elevated his lead over Denver Nuggets middle Nikola Jokic. Gilgeous-Alexander claimed 78 first-place votes and was the one participant named to all 100 ballots.

The reigning MVP, who additionally secured 20 second-place and two third-place votes, is within the midst of one other stellar season, averaging 31.8 factors and 6.4 assists whereas taking pictures 55.4% from the sphere for the Western Convention-leading Thunder.

SGA’s lead has grown regardless of the defending champions slipping since our first straw ballot was launched in mid-December. The Thunder as soon as had been on tempo to win 70-plus video games, however accidents have introduced them again to earth; they’ve gone 17-13 after a blistering 24-1 begin to the season. That has included a latest stomach harm to Gilgeous-Alexander, who has already missed seven video games and can miss a minimum of a couple of extra after the workforce introduced Thursday he’ll be re-evaluated in per week.

Such a dip in type would’ve opened the door for Gilgeous-Alexander’s prime competitors, however in what has been a theme of this season, accidents have dramatically modified the awards panorama.

Jokic saved his second-place spot (18 first-place votes), however the bone bruise he suffered in late December that knocked him out for practically a month has clearly stalled his MVP candidacy.

It actually doesn’t suggest Jokic has no likelihood of successful. His stat line — 28.7 factors, 12.7 rebounds and 10.7 assists per sport whereas taking pictures 59% general, 42% from 3 and 84% from the free throw line — actually helps, although his margin for error has shrunk. If Jokic misses two extra video games, he will likely be ineligible for MVP and all end-of-season awards. That will finish a streak of 5 consecutive top-two finishes in MVP voting, one wanting Boston Celtics legends Invoice Russell and Larry Chook for probably the most all time.

Jokic has loads of firm within the 65-game watch. San Antonio Spurs middle Victor Wembanyama jumped from eighth in December’s ballot to fourth with three first-place votes and landed on 75 ballots. However Wembanyama has missed 13 video games (he really has missed 14 however will get credit score for the NBA Cup title sport), which means he can miss solely 4 the remainder of the season.

However in his third season, the French phenom has once more been great, averaging 24.4 factors, 11.1 rebounds and a league-leading 2.7 blocks per sport. If he stays wholesome, and if San Antonio could make up the three video games it at the moment sits behind OKC for first within the West, Wembanyama might replicate the 2022-23 race, when Philadelphia 76ers middle Joel Embiid’s late cost gained him the MVP over Jokic.

In the meantime, the fifth-place finisher within the ballot, Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic, has already missed 12 video games. Two different vote-getters — LA Clippers ahead Kawhi Leonard (13 missed video games) and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (10 missed video games) — might see their eligibility put in peril with one other harm. And that does not rely both Giannis Antetokounmpo or LeBron James, who’ve every already fallen beneath the 65-game requirement. (Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry did not obtain any straw ballot votes and is 2 missed video games away from not being award eligible.)

However all of the accidents on the prime have created alternatives for different gamers. Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, who completed third with one first-place vote, has been the engine behind Detroit’s outstanding season that has the Pistons atop the convention and headed for home-court benefit within the first spherical for the primary time since 2008.

And with Jayson Tatum nonetheless sidelined — although probably nearing a return — from the Achilles tear he suffered in final 12 months’s playoffs, Celtics ahead Jaylen Brown has continued his outstanding marketing campaign, ending sixth within the straw ballot. Contemplating Brown was ninth in December’s ballot, his soar is a nod to each his spectacular play and the short-handed Celtics hitting the All-Star break in second place within the East.

Rounding out the poll was a trio of East All-Stars: Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (11 whole votes, 27 whole factors, seventh place), New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (seven whole votes, 17 whole factors, ninth place) and 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (4 whole votes, 10 whole factors, tenth place).

Full NBA MVP straw ballot outcomes