The NBA still has not announced the winner of the 2026 nba mvp award as the Eastern Conference semifinals and Western Conference semifinals get underway, leaving the league's most visible regular-season honor hanging over the opening rounds of the playoffs. The final three finalists are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the favorite to repeat after leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 68-14 record and averaging 31.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game. Jokic put up 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game for Denver, which went 54-28, while Wembanyama guided San Antonio to a 62-20 mark and averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists. NBA.com put Gilgeous-Alexander first on its final MVP ladder, with Jokic second and Wembanyama third, and all five of its writers picked Gilgeous-Alexander to repeat in a recent awards prediction story.
The MVP is a regular-season award voted on by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the league, and the NBA has not said when it will reveal the winner this year. The announcement is expected during the Eastern Conference Finals and Western Conference Finals, which would again place the decision in the middle of the postseason rather than after it.
That timing has become part of the award's rhythm. The league announced the MVP on May 8, 2024, but last season waited until May 21 and unveiled it during the conference finals. This year, with the semifinals already in motion and no date set, the league is once again asking fans and players to watch the playoffs while the regular-season debate stays unresolved. For Gilgeous-Alexander, the stakes are simple: he has the edge now, but the final call still belongs to the voters.
