MVP finalists named

The National Basketball Association’s Most Valuable Player race is down to three names: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama. (nba.com) The league announced the finalists on Sunday, April 19, as part of its regular-season awards rollout for 2025-26. The same release listed finalists for seven major awards, including Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. (nba.com) The three MVP finalists play for Oklahoma City, Denver and San Antonio, and all three were born outside the United States. Gilgeous-Alexander is Canadian, Jokić is Serbian and Wembanyama is French, which guarantees an international winner this season. (apnews.com) Jokić is chasing another MVP after already winning the award three times, while Gilgeous-Alexander won it last season. Wembanyama made the final three while also landing on the Defensive Player of the Year shortlist. (nba.com, nba.com) The finalists also show how the race shifted over the season. NBA.com’s weekly MVP Ladder had Gilgeous-Alexander at No. 1 in several late-season editions, then moved Wembanyama into the top spot in its most recent ranking published April 3. (nba.com) That left Jokić in the middle of a three-way race that stayed open into the final weeks. NBA.com described its April 3 leaderboard as part of an award chase in which each of the top five players had a case, and the final shortlist narrowed that field to three. (nba.com, nba.com) The wider awards ballot gives Wembanyama and Gilgeous-Alexander multiple chances at major honors. Gilgeous-Alexander is also a finalist for Clutch Player of the Year, and Wembanyama is also up for Defensive Player of the Year. (nba.com) The NBA said some award winners will be announced this week, with Defensive Player of the Year on Monday, Clutch Player of the Year on Tuesday, Sixth Man on Wednesday, Sportsmanship on Thursday and Most Improved Player on Friday. The league said other honors will be announced during the 2026 postseason. (nba.com) The MVP winner was not announced with the finalists, so the league’s Sunday release settled only the field, not the result. For now, the award is headed to either a reigning winner, a three-time winner or a first-time finalist in Wembanyama. (nba.com, apnews.com)