With one more triumph, Nikola Jokic will have three MVPs in the previous four seasons. Without a doubt, Victor Wembanyama is headed for a trophy—possibly two. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may receive a few of his own.
The Denver Nuggets player Nikola Jokic was among the top three vote-getters for the highest individual award, the Michael Jordan trophy, which is given to the league’s Most Valuable Player. It came as no surprise that the NBA announced the finalists for the most of the playoff honors on Sunday.
The others are Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City and Luka Doncic of Dallas. Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, the MVP of the previous season, was ineligible for the award this year due to a new league regulation requiring players to participate in a minimum number of games.
Jokic would join Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James (four), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Jordan and Bill Russell (five), Moses Malone, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson (three) as the ninth player to win three or more MVPs.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic would be the first-ever MVPs. Gilgeous-Alexander is a strong candidate for MVP this year after serving as a finalist for the award last year.
One thing is certain: an international player will win MVP for the sixth year in a row, which will be the longest stretch in NBA history. Greek-Nigerian player Giannis Antetokounmpo won in 2019 and 2020, Jokic of Serbia won in 2021 and 2022, and Embiid triumphed in the most recent season. Embiid was born in Cameroon, but in 2022 he obtained American citizenship. This summer, he will play for the USA Basketball team at the Olympics in Paris.
A panel of reporters and broadcasters covering the league casts votes for the honors, which are determined solely by the results of regular season games. Before the play-in tournament began last week, ballots had to be sent in. Over the next few days, the league is anticipated to start notifying the victors.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Act taken aback if Wembanyama prevails.
The clear favorite to become the third Spurs player to earn rookie of the year is San Antonio’s French phenom and the No. 1 choice in the previous lottery. He concluded the season averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and an NBA-high 3.6 blocked shots per game. The others were Tim Duncan in 1998 and David Robinson in 1990.
The other candidates are Brandon Miller of Charlotte and Chet Holmgren of Oklahoma City, who led the Thunder to the top spot in the Western Conference.
“I’m pretty proud of this,” Wembanyama remarked, “leading the league in blocks and leading rookies in most categories.”
Wembanyama is poised to become the first foreign winner of the trophy since Luka Doncic of Dallas in 2019 and the fifth overall in the previous ten seasons. In 2015, Andrew Wiggins from Canada won; in 2016, Karl-Anthony Towns from the Dominican Republic won; in 2018, Ben Simmons from Australia won; and in the following season, Doncic won.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert of Utah, Bam Adebayo of Miami, and Wembanyama of the Spurs were the three finalists, so the rookie player is now guaranteed a spot in the top three in two distinct voting sets.
The top three finishers from the previous season did not place this year. The previous season’s winner was Jaren Jackson Jr. of Memphis; the other contenders for 2023 were Evan Mobley of Cleveland and Brook Lopez of Milwaukee.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
The finalists for this year are Tyrese Maxey of Philadelphia, Coby White of Chicago, and Alperen Sengun of Houston.
Last year’s winner was Lauri Markkanen of Utah; the other finalists were Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Brunson of New York.
SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis, Sacramento’s Malik Monk, and Minnesota’s Naz Reid are all back as finalists.
The previous year’s winner was Malcolm Brogdon, who was from Boston at the time. The other contenders were Immanuel Quickley of New York and Portis.
CLUTCH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Stephen Curry of Golden State. The two contenders for clutch player of the year are Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City and DeMar DeRozan of Chicago.
DeRozan was a finalist as well the previous year, when De’Aaron Fox of Sacramento prevailed.
COACH OF THE YEAR
The top three vote-getters were Mark Daigneault of Oklahoma City, Chris Finch of Minnesota, and Jamahl Mosley of Orlando.
Daigneault has already been awarded the National Basketball Coaches Association’s coach of the year title. This isn’t the official NBA honor, but it is one that, since it was instituted in 2017, frequently reflects the final outcomes of league voting. Five times in its first seven seasons, an NBCA selection—two of which were co-winners—became the NBA champion.
The unanimous winner from the previous year was Mike Brown of Sacramento; the other contenders in 2023 were Daigneault and Joe Mazzulla of Boston.