Since the NBA institued the 65-game minimum requirement for its major awards, it has proven very controversial among fans. It may be doing its job by curbing “rest days” among the league’s best players, but it has proven a bit unfair towards players who struggle with injuries.
This season’s NBA MVP race has a chance to be the most controversial, as two of the top candidates – Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama – are very close to falling short of the threshold. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t have much margin for error either, but the Oklahoma City Thunder guard has taken a big lead in the race as the regular season winds down.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander now the clear favorite for NBA MVP over Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama
Following SGA’s Monday night performance against Jokic’s Denver Nuggets, in which he tied Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 126 straight games scoring at least 20 points, FanDuel updated their NBA MVP odds. Gilgeous-Alexander is starting to run away with it, and the rest of the field is running out of time to catch up.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: -1000 to win NBA MVP
- Victor Wembanyama: +2000
- Nikola Jokic: +2500
- Cade Cunningham: +3000
- Jaylen Brown: +15000
There are about 16 or so games left in the regular season depending on the team. It would take a Gilgeous-Alexander injury to open up the competition, as he hasn’t hit the 65-game minimum requirement yet. Jokic, who had a great shot at the award this year, might not play enough games to meet the threshold – he can only miss one more game all season.
Wembanyama can only miss three more games, but his stats pale in comparison to Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic. There’s still an outside shot for Wemby – if both SGA and Jokic miss the required amount of games. That would put the Spurs star in the driver’s seat, although a strong push from Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham could still change the equation.
13 NBA players have won back-to-back MVP awards, and SGA is on the verge of doing it
If Gilgeous-Alexander wins, he would become the 14th player in NBA history to win back-to-back MVPs. Jokic is the most recent player to pull that feat off.
- Nikola Jokic: 2021, 2022
- Giannis Antetokounmpo: 2019, 2020
- Stephen Curry: 2015, 2016
- LeBron James: 2009, 2010 and 2012, 2013
- Steve Nash: 2005, 2006
- Tim Duncan: 2002, 2003
- Michael Jordan: 1991, 1992
- Magic Johnson: 1989, 1990
- Larry Bird: 1984, 1985, 1986
- Moses Malone: 1982, 1983
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 1971, 1972 and 1976, 1977
- Wilt Chamberlain: 1966, 1967, 1968
- Bill Russell: 1961, 1962, 1963
Only Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell have won the award in three consecutive seasons. Gilgeous-Alexander would be aiming to join that elite group next season, if he does indeed win the award this year.
