NBA MVP Rankings: Two-horse race enters stretch run
With the regular season entering its final weeks, the competition to win MVP remains fierce. Here are the 10 leading candidates to take home the award.
Previous: 7
| GP | FG% | 3PT% | FT% | REB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | 50.1 | 36.7 | 77.6 | 5.8 | 2.1 | 22.7 |
Despite suffering an ankle sprain at the beginning of March, Jackson nabbed our final spot to narrowly edge out Karl-Anthony Towns, who missed out on our list because of the New York Knicks' inability to beat the league's best teams.
Jackson does everything for a Grizzlies squad tied with the Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets for second place in the West and battling for home-court advantage. The 25-year-old leads Memphis in points while also ranking fourth in the NBA in stocks (steals plus blocks) at 2.93 per game, putting him in a position to win his second Defensive Player of the Year award.
Previous: 10
| GP | FG% | 3PT% | FT% | REB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58 | 51.7 | 38.4 | 77 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 25 |
The Luka Doncic trade seems to have invigorated James, who's been unstoppable since L.A. acquired the Slovenian. The uncertainty of how a 40-year-old's body will respond to a pesky groin injury is the only thing holding James back from climbing our rankings.
Since Doncic's debut, James has averaged 27.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 6.6 assists. The four-time MVP has also gone from arguably the league's worst defender to being a force again. In his 12 games since Feb. 9, James has helped steward the Lakers to the league's third-best defense (108.5 rating). However, Los Angeles has gone 1-3 since his groin injury, and its defense has plummeted to 20th (117.2 rating) over the four-game period.
Previous: Not Ranked
| GP | FG% | 3PT% | FT% | REB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | 44.8 | 39.8 | 93.6 | 4.4 | 6.1 | 24.3 |
Thanks to the Warriors' acquisition of Jimmy Butler, the 37-year-old Curry returns to the rankings as his club surges in the standings. Golden State has lost just two games since acquiring the six-time All-Star ahead of the trade deadline, one of which came without Butler in the lineup.
Butler's presence has rejuvenated Curry. In the team's last 15 games, Curry averaged 28.3 points, six assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 32.8 minutes per contest. The veteran sharpshooter also recorded 4.7 3-pointers a night on 40.6% shooting during that stretch and became the first player in NBA history to make 4,000 career deep shots. Curry's recent production has him in the MVP conversation, and the Warriors seem poised to contend for a championship once more.
Previous: 8
| GP | FG% | 3PT% | FT% | REB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | 44.2 | 40.6 | 83.5 | 5.9 | 4.6 | 27.2 |
Edwards may not want to be the face of the NBA, but he's undoubtedly the face of the T-Wolves. He's guided Minnesota to an eight-game win streak, as the team is on equal footing with the Warriors for the West's final automatic playoff spot.
Edwards is having the best season of his young career, averaging career highs in points, rebounds, and 3-point percentage. The 23-year-old is one of six people in the NBA to average 27-plus points, and he holds the highest shooting percentage from deep of players who attempt at least 10 threes per game. If Edwards can maintain his output, his 27.4 points per contest would be the highest scoring average in T-Wolves history.
Previous: 9
| GP | FG% | 3PT% | FT% | REB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63 | 45.9 | 34.9 | 86.3 | 6.1 | 9.3 | 25.6 |
Cunningham has truly arrived, becoming one of the league's premier offensive creators in his fourth NBA season. The 23-year-old ranks 10th in scoring and fourth in triple-doubles in the NBA and trails only Trae Young and Nikola Jokic in assists per game.
Cunningham's exploits have thrust Detroit into playoff contention. The Pistons are poised to make the postseason for the first time since 2019, as they're tied for the fifth-most wins (12) since Feb. 6 and sit one game behind the Indiana Pacers for fifth in the East.
Previous: 5
| GP | FG% | 3PT% | FT% | REB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 45.1 | 38.4 | 81.9 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 24.2 |
The Cavs continue to prove themselves as the NBA's best team. Though their 16-game winning streak was snapped Sunday, it was Cleveland's third double-digit stretch of consecutive wins and its second lasting 15-plus games. Before Sunday, the Cavaliers hadn't lost since Feb. 4. They were also the first to hit 50 wins and the first to clinch a playoff spot.
During the Cavs' unbeatable stretch, Mitchell averaged a team-high 25.7 points and shot 45.2% on over 18 field-goal attempts per night. He was also one of four NBA players to average 25-plus points while playing under 32 minutes per contest during that period.
Previous: 4
| GP | FG% | 3PT% | FT% | REB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | 45.6 | 35.4 | 80.7 | 8.8 | 5.9 | 27.2 |
Tatum had several noteworthy performances over the last few weeks against some of the league's premier competition. The six-time All-Star dropped 46 points on the Cavaliers and 40 on the Lakers in roughly a week, along with 30-point outings over the slumping Philadelphia 76ers and Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder. Tatum averaged 28.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 7.4 assists over his last nine contests.
While his numbers aren't eye-popping, Tatum is among the leading contenders for the award because of Boston's 47-19 record. Tatum might be able to close the distance if he can push his production into the next gear.
Previous: 3
| GP | FG% | 3PT% | FT% | REB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 60.3 | 18.2 | 59.8 | 12.1 | 6 | 30.4 |
Antetokounmpo is still putting together a strong performance for MVP despite being hampered by a nagging calf injury. He ranks second in points and sixth in rebounds per game in the league. Even though Antetokounmpo missed six games prior to the All-Star break due to the injury, the Bucks managed to tread water by going 3-3.
However, Antetokounmpo's scoring has dipped since his return, averaging 26.5 points on 58.8% field goal shooting in the last 14 contests. While he still owns quality numbers, the two-time MVP is taking fewer shots per game than he did before the All-Star break, going from 20.9 attempts to 17.5. The Greek Freak must get that number back up to keep pace with the other candidates.
Previous: 2
| GP | FG% | 3PT% | FT% | REB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | 57.6 | 42.2 | 80.3 | 12.8 | 10.3 | 29 |
We haven't seen an MVP race this tight in quite some time, and you could argue that nobody deserves this award more than Jokic. The 30-year-old won last year's MVP and three of the previous four, but this season is his best yet. Jokic is averaging a triple-double for the first time and posting career highs in points, assists, steals, and 3-point percentage.
Jokic's mark from beyond the arc is good for 20th in the NBA, and he's one of just two players in the league to average double-digit assists. Jokic also recently delivered the first 30-20-20 game in league history, with his 22 assists the most posted by a center in a single game.
Previous: 1
| GP | FG% | 3PT% | FT% | REB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 66 | 52.6 | 37.1 | 90.1 | 5 | 6.2 | 33 |
Gilgeous-Alexander maintains our No. 1 spot despite a strong push from Jokic over the past month. The 26-year-old is the league's leading scorer and one of only two players (the other being Antetokounmpo) to average over 30 points per game. Gilgeous-Alexander is also the driving force behind the NBA's fourth-highest offensive rating (118.5), as he's scoring 11.7 more points than his team's second-leading scorer (Jalen Williams at 21.3) - the largest margin in the Association.
The Kentucky product has been on an absolute tear since Jan. 1, recording 30-plus points in 25 of his 34 games, including four instances of scoring 50-plus. Gilgeous-Alexander became the fifth player since 2000 to have four or more games with 50-plus points, while no one else has hit that mark more than once this campaign.