The National Basketball Association Conference Finals will begin on Tuesday night from Oklahoma City. Usually by now an announcement is made on who will be the NBA MVP. However, this year the announcement has not yet come, and the NBA’s silence has completely baffled fans.
The finalists are currently Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. Jokic and Antetokounmpo have won the award before. Jokic won in 2021, 2022 and 2024, and Antetokounmpo won in 2019 and 2020.
The general consensus is that Gilgeous-Alexander will win the award this year. The betting line is -4000. He led the NBA this season with 32.7 points per game, 2484 total points, 860 made field goals, and 601 free throws. It also helps that the Thunder were the best team this season at 68 wins and 14 losses.
However, you cannot count Jokic out. Something needs to be said about a center averaging a triple double. That simply has never happened before.
So why has the announcement not yet been made? Is it because the United States don’t want to recognize the excellence of a Canadian in Gilgeous-Alexander at a time when there has been tension between the two countries? Is it because the NBA was uncomfortable in making the announcement when Gilgeous-Alexander was facing Jokic in the second round?
The NBA needs to make an announcement soon, and are looking weak here because of the lack of historical consistency. We always know every year when the National Hockey League, National Football League and Major League Baseball announce their MVP. Why is the NBA being different?
