It is time: the NBA will present the most valuable player of this season on Wednesday night.
The winner will be the Shai Gilgous-Alexander of Oklahoma City, Nikola Jokic of Denver or Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee. It will be the seventh consecutive time that a player born outside the United States has won the award.
Antekounmpo, of Greek and Nigerian descent, won in 2019 and 2020. Jokic, a Serbian, won in 2021, 2022 and 2024. And Joel Embiid of Philadelphia, who was born in Cameroon, but since then he has become an American citizen, won the award in 2023.
This year’s favorite, according to Betmgm Sportsbook, is Gilgeous-Alexander, the Canadian guard who won the league’s score title this season and took the Thunder to a 68-14 best record in the NBA.
Gilgous-Alexander, from Hamilton, averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists and five rebounds per game, and is online to win the prize for the first time. It was fifth in the MVP vote in 2023 and the second last season.
The member of the Basketball Hall Steve Nash of Victoria is the only one other Canadian to win the award, winning consecutively in 2005-06 when he played with the Phoenix Suns.
Jokic had a history season, becoming the first center to average a double triple: 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game, while ending like the first player, since all these statistics were tracked to finish among the first three of the NBA in the three categories.
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Antekounmppo averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.
The MVP award, like most of the NBA honors, was voted for a global panel of 100 writers and stations that cover the League and cast votes shortly before the start of the playoffs.
The other awards that were part of this voting process and have already presented their results:
- Kenny Atkinson de Cleveland, coach of the year,
- Dyson Daniels de Atlanta, the most improved player
- Stephon Castle of San Antonio, rookie of the year
- Evan Mobley de Cleveland, defensive player of the year
- Jalen Brunson from New York, player of the year
- Boston’s Payton Pritchard, sixth man of the year
Other awards announced by the League since the end of the regular season:
- Stephen Curry by Golden State won the Twyman-Stokes Team-Teammate of the Year award
- The Warriors teammate, Draymond Green, won the Hustle award
- Sam Presti de Oklahoma City won executive of the year
- Jrue Holiday de Boston won the Sportsmanship Award for the second time in his career, as well as the League Social Justice Award.
