Apr 07, 2026
3 min read
With Luca Donian out of the NBA MVP picture, here's how the race is progressing with one week left in the regular season.
See NBA MVP: How Luka Doncic's injury changes the race with a week to go
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The NBA MVP race was completely turned on its head this past weekend.
During what was expected to be a showdown between the two top contenders on Friday night, Lakers star Luka Dončić suffered a hamstring injury while battling reigning Thunder MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.Shortly after his departure, reports arrived: Dončić would miss the rest of the regular season for Los Angeles with his playoff status in doubt.It was certainly a devastating blow to his team after the purple and gold dominated in March, and it hurt even more with the news the next day that Austin Reaves would join Dončić on the sidelines in a similar fashion.
Doncic was also disqualified from the postseason award for games played.The Lakers star has now played in 64 games, one short of the 65 games needed to win the season-ending award.He plans to request a waiver because he missed two games this year due to family reasons, but until the NBA rules that Doncic is ineligible for MVP, All-NBA and all other awards for the season.
In the past, such a late injury has hampered Dončić's MVP case.In our current opinion, that removes his name from the list of candidates with one week left in the season and votes will be cast.He joins stars Cade Cunningham and Anthony Edwards as big names who could win MVP honors if it weren't for the 65-game rule.
We recently checked how the MVP race is going in the final stage of the NBA season.In light of Doncic's injury progression, it makes sense to do it again.Here's how the MVP race looks as we head into the final days of the regular season.
5. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
68 games played, 27.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 5.7 apg, 47.9 FG%, 36.5 3P%, 86.4 FT%
Doncic's exit from the race means there is one more spot to fill on the top five ballots.As a result, Mitchell nodded.Despite the many turnovers Cleveland has experienced this year, the Cavaliers star has been the offensive star.In every iteration of this year's Cavs — with and without Darius Garland, with and without James Harden, with and without Jarrett Allen — Mitchell has lived up to his reputation as one of the NBA's most explosive, versatile scorers.He also posted the second-highest career scoring average and tied for fifth in the NBA with six 40-point games.
Mitchell hasn't had as many seasons as his competitors, but he's an easy choice as the last name on this year's ballot.
4. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
68 games played, 28.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 5.3 apg, 47.5 FG%, 34.5 3P%, 79.7 FT%
Due to Doncic's absence, Brown is getting a boost in the polls, and deservedly so.The Celtics superstar started the season with an unrecognizable rotation compared to last year, but he has the strongest MVP case among the top three candidates after leading Boston to the top two.He has the scoring stats and wins to properly claim MVP voting recognition.
Jayson Tatum's return killed the Browns last season's chance to finish atop the voting.But he hasn't really missed a beat.Brown is averaging 28.2 points per game when paired with Tatum so far, and his assists per game are actually up from his season average.It was the best season of Brown's career, and he earned the accolade despite being a few steps behind the MVP club leaders.
3. Victor Wembaniama, San Antonio Spurs
62 games played, 24.9 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 3.1 bpg, 50.9 FG%, 35.0 3P%, 82.8 FT%
MVP Wembanyama's case was strong when he was elected to spell as a candidate a few weeks ago.Since then it has only gotten better.In the five games since he was the first MVP contender, Wembanyama scored 31.6 points and pulled down 16.4 rebounds a night.The Spurs star backs up everything he said and stepped up to the occasion Saturday in a rare opportunity to clash with a fellow MVP candidate, putting up a ridiculous line of 34 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks in an overtime loss to Nikola Jokić's Nuggets.His talent and production per minute are undeniable for MVP consideration.
But the weak points in his selection have not changed.Wembanyama played more than 350 minutes more than Jokic and SGA.As a player, he has the least all-around impact on the offensive end (although his "gravity" is real).And despite his recent scoring struggles, Wembanyama will still finish well below what voters consider to be the bar for modern MVP candidates based on the past 10 years.The San Antonio superstar will be in this conversation every year as long as he stays healthy, but Wembanyama isn't quite there yet when compared to the two players ahead of him.
2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
65 games played, 31.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 6.5 apg, 55.1 FG%, 38.0 3P%, 88.1 FT%
Gilgeous-Alexander's case for MVP this season is unblemished; he's one of only two players to average over 30 points per game, the leading man on the NBA's best team, and a player who makes an impact on both ends of the floor.His top teammates have also appreciated the fact that he has broken multiple scoring records this season and led the Thunder team to 60 wins despite constant injuries.SGA is the most dangerous scorer in the league on a per possession basis, and it's hard to see OKC in pole position without his talents bolstering the roster on a nightly basis.
Combine all this with the fact that SGA is the leader of ESPN's latest poll and it seems inevitable that he will be MVP twice sooner rather than later.But in this ranking, he takes the second place.because...
1. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
62 games, 27.9 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 10.9 rpg, 57.1 FG%, 38.3 3P%, 82.7 FT%
Jokic is on track to become just the second player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounds and assists.
It's an under-recognized fact during the MVP race.Yes, Jokic's case isn't the same because of SGA's rocky midseason (and Denver's uneven results in general).But the center, who leads the league in rebounding and rebounding, is restless.And it's not even close!
Jokić is adding more rebounds and assists per game than any top player in any league.He will finish as one of four players to hit 800 rebounds;The other three played at least 10 more games.With Jokić's 673 (and counting) assists, Cunningham is tied for second with 603. It won't surprise you to know that Wilt Chamberlain was the last player to do so 60 years ago.
The Denver star is also making a late move for serious consideration.The player, who won the MVP award against Wembanyama on Saturday, finished with 40 points and 13 assists before firing his signature fadeaway shot over Wemby's equally iconic outstretched arms.Jokić is averaging a triple-double with 25.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 12.7 assists in the last 10 games.He does everything to show his greatness in our faces.
SGA is a very worthy candidate, breaking Chamberlain's own record this year.It would be a shame if he didn't win the MVP award.But Jokic leading the league in those categories and not winning MVP would be an even bigger shame.So for us he's at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final week of the season.
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Liam McKeon is a senior writer for the breaking and trending news team at Sports Illustrated.He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and before joining in May 2024, McKeon worked on NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead.In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture.A graduate of Fordham University, he's always up for a good debate and argues loudly about sports, rap music, books, and video games.
