Shaun Powells final pick in a tightly contested race

In the 2025-26 season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made history by recording 127 straight games with 20 or more points.

The top three finishers in the 2025-26 Kia Race to the MVP Ladder all spent time at No. 1 this season, which was both appropriate, necessary, and reflected the top-end quality of the field.

Having them taste the top spot was the only way to show the proper respect – each earned that much. The MVP Ladder would not be dominated by a single player all season or by a significant margin, and the NBA was better for it. The epic performances shown by all three for much of the season, and especially in the final few weeks – sometimes against each other – proved they were sensitively aware, too, of the MVP buzz.

This Ladder was not unlike an Olympic 100-meter dash, where the gold and bronze medal winners are separated by a fraction of a second. In that sense, on any given week, the ranking order of the Ladder was instantly followed by a wave of disbelief among the cognoscenti – how can (insert name) be in (insert place) after the year he’s having?

But this was one of those years, quite the opposite of Stephen Curry going unchallenged in 2016.

So here’s the envelope, and the ranking order without punishment regarding awards eligibility in this, the final installment of the 2025-26 MVP Ladder:

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder Last week’s ranking: No. 2 Season stats: 31.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.6 assists His case: Right from opening night ’til the end, nobody played higher-level basketball without a dip. That explained Gilgeous-Alexander in 2025-26. Some players put together a historic game, a few splashier weeks, even a better month or two. But the entire season? From the get-go? There was Gilgeous-Alexander and then everyone else.

2. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets Last week’s ranking: No. 3 Season stats: 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, 10.7 assists His case: Once again, Jokić did things either never before seen in basketball or rarely witnessed. That alone put him in a special class. He was such a performer that his feats were taken for granted by the basketball public. That should never be the case, for we may never see a season like this again, not from him or anyone else, for a while.

3. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs Last week’s ranking: No. 1 Season stats: 25 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 blocks His case: Wembanyama announced his arrival as a serious MVP candidate by excelling at both ends, better than anyone in the league. This improved two-way ability and impact was the primary reason the 62-win Spurs were transformed into an instant championship threat. Their personnel remains largely unchanged from last season, a segment of which Wembanyama missed due to blood clotting.

4. Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers Last week’s ranking: No. 4 Season stats: 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists His case: As a scorer, Dončić had no peer, leading the league and by more than two points per game over the runner-up, Gilgeous-Alexander. In addition, Dončić went thermal a handful of times, mainly in a mad March with a 60, a 50, and five games of 40 points. That was a scorching run that nobody came close to matching, the kind of run that only a handful of players in NBA history are capable of assembling.

5. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics Last week’s ranking: No. 5 Season stats: 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists His case: A player’s MVP campaign is very often built around the load he must carry. If so, it’s not wrong to suggest no one on the Ladder did more of that than Brown. He did wonders for the Celtics and, by extension, his reputation.

6. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons Last week’s ranking: Not ranked Season stats: 23.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 9.9 assists His case: Cunningham put the premium unleaded into the Pistons all season and was the leading factor in Detroit grabbing the top seed in the East. His leadership, combined with performance and a steady hand, was precisely what the Pistons needed to flex on the rest of the East and win 60 games.

7. Jalen Johnson, Atlanta Hawks Last week’s ranking: No. 7 Season stats: 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 7.9 assists His case: Johnson, at 24, morphed from a good player last season to a franchise player in 2025-26. This is the next-level leap that created a game-changer and made Johnson a fixture on the Ladder. That was especially true over the last few months, when the Hawks thrived.

8. Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers Last week’s ranking: No. 6 Season stats: 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists His case: This was the finest regular season ever by a future Hall of Famer and two-time Finals MVP. That’s it. That’s his case. Leonard put up the stats above while also shooting 50.5% overall and finished fourth in steals (1.9 spg). That put him in the finest group of elite two-way players. This was made possible by good health, finally, by a player too often victimized by massive gaps due to injuries in the past.

9. Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets Last week’s ranking: No. 10 Season stats: 26 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists His case: At age 37, the former MVP looms as the only superstar of his generation on the Ladder. Even more impressive is how Durant, a top-15 scorer this season, joined another new team and instantly became that team’s most impactful player, even this late in his career.

10. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers Last week’s ranking: No. 8 Season stats: 27.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists His case: The league’s No. 7 scorer and the top point-producer in fourth quarters, Mitchell was once again the centerpiece of the Cavs and carried them through stretches where key teammates were injured, notably the since-departed Darius Garland.

And five more (listed alphabetically): Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks; Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons; Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers; Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets; Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks

Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at spowell@nba.com, find his archive here, and follow him on X.