Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might be adding a couple more trophies to his collection. San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama has a shot at doing the same.
And for the eighth consecutive year, the MVP will be an international one.
Canada's Gilgeous-Alexander — the reigning NBA MVP — is one of the finalists for this year's top individual honour, along with Denver's Nikola Jokic and the Spurs' Wembanyama, who is also a finalist for defensive player of the year.
The NBA's run of international MVPs started in 2019 and 2020 with Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is of Greek and Nigerian descent. Jokic, a Serbian, won in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon but since became a U.S. citizen, won the award in 2023, and Gilgeous-Alexander won last year.
Gilgeous-Alexander is also a finalist for Clutch Player of the Year this season.
The NBA announced the finalists for seven individual awards Sunday night and will start announcing winners on Monday. The Defensive Player award — widely expected to be going to Wembanyama — comes out then, followed by Clutch Player on Tuesday and Sixth Man on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the appeal that got the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic onto the award ballots might earn him All-NBA, but did not lead to him getting his first MVP award. He was not among the top three in the balloting for MVP; voters cast their ballots last week after Doncic and Detroit's Cade Cunningham won appeals that got them on the ballot even though they didn't satisfy the terms of the NBA's 65-game rule for eligibility in most cases.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards lost his appeal — but might get an award after all.
Edwards is a finalist for Clutch Player of the Year. He wasn’t on the ballot for MVP, All-NBA and other honours, but was on the Clutch ballot because those nominees were selected by the league’s coaches.
The full list of finalists for the seven awards honouring top performers from the 2025-26 NBA regular season:
Kia NBA Clutch Player of the Year
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Kia NBA Most Improved Player
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta Hawks
Deni Avdija, Portland Trail Blazers
Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons
Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year
Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder
Ausar Thompson, Detroit Pistons
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year
Tim Hardaway Jr., Denver Nuggets
Jaime Jaquez Jr., Miami Heat
Keldon Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
NBA Coach of the Year
J.B. Bickerstaff, Detroit Pistons
Mitch Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics
Kia NBA Rookie of the Year
VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers
Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks
Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets
Kia NBA Most Valuable Player
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
