2025-26 NBA Midseason Awards: MVP, Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player at the halfway mark

Key Highlights

• Take your pick: the best player on the best team; historically elite individual production that lines up pretty neatly next to Michael Jordan; the driving force behind what profiles as one of the greatest teams of all time; the primary reason OKC has a 5.5-game lead on the rest of the West; the most valuable clutch contributor in the league; first or second in nearly every advanced stat known to NBA nerdkind; and has played 10 more games and about 300 more minutes than Nikola Jokić.
• It’s a pretty strong damn case. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTom Haberstroh: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
• Injuries to the other four major candidates — Nikola Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić and Victor Wembanyama — have paved the way for the reigning MVP to repeat.
• I think Cade Cunningham could make a late-season push, but it’s Gilgeous-Alexander’s award to lose.
• He’s the best player on the best team and has established himself as the game’s top clutch assassin, scoring a league-high 122 points with the score within five points in the final five minutes. Steve Jones: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.