NBA straw poll: Gilgeous-Alexander remains clear MVP favorite as Wembanyama surges
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With 10 days left in the regular season, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander holds a commanding lead in ESPN’s final 2025-26 NBA Most Valuable Player straw poll.
In a survey of 100 media members conducted Monday through Wednesday, Gilgeous-Alexander captured 88 first-place votes, nine seconds and three thirds, totaling 958 points. He sits 300 points ahead of San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, whose club has won 27 of 29 games since Feb. 1 to climb into the league’s elite.
The 27-year-old guard, aiming to become the 14th player with back-to-back MVP awards and the 16th to win the trophy at least twice, is averaging 31.6 points on 55.3% shooting, 4.4 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.4 steals. Oklahoma City owns the NBA’s best record for a second straight season despite extended absences from several rotation players, including All-Star Jalen Williams, limited to 31 games after wrist surgery and a hamstring strain.
Wembanyama, 22, is bidding to join Derrick Rose as the only players in the past 15 years to secure MVP honors within their first three seasons. The 7-foot-4 rookie-turned-franchise cornerstone averages 24.5 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and a league-best 3.1 blocks while meeting the 65-game minimum that cost him award eligibility last season. He logged 41 points, 16 boards and three blocks Monday in Chicago, only to see Gilgeous-Alexander answer hours later with 47 points in an overtime win at Detroit.
Nikola Jokić received three first-place votes and appeared on 99 of 100 ballots, finishing third. The Denver Nuggets center is posting 27.7 points, an NBA-best 13.0 rebounds and 10.8 assists, though his numbers have dipped slightly since returning from a knee bone bruise before the All-Star break, and Denver has slipped behind the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western standings.
Luka Dončić placed fourth, landing on 96 ballots. The Lakers guard leads the league with 33.5 points per game, plus 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.6 steals, and delivered the NBA’s first 600-point March since Michael Jordan in 1987 while guiding Los Angeles to a 15-2 month. Dončić exited Thursday’s game against Oklahoma City with a left hamstring injury; having played 64 games, he would become ineligible for MVP if he misses the Lakers’ final five contests.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards garnered one fifth-place vote before a right knee ailment removed him from consideration. Voters were told to omit Detroit Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham, whose collapsed lung likely ends his season at 61 games; respondents believed Cunningham would have ranked between third and fifth without affecting the Gilgeous-Alexander–Wembanyama duel.
Rookie of the Year straw poll
Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel, the No. 4 pick last June, commands the race with 80 first-place votes to Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg’s 20. Philadelphia 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe collected two second-place and 94 third-place nods, while San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (five) and New Orleans Pelicans center Derik Queen (one) rounded out the ballots.
Knueppel has shattered the rookie record for made three-pointers and leads the NBA in total threes while shooting 43.1% from deep. His production has fueled Charlotte’s climb from a 16-28 start to 24 wins in the past 32 games, moving the Hornets into the upper half of the Eastern Conference play-in field. Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick, remains on pace to become just the fourth rookie since the 1976 NBA-ABA merger to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and four assists, but Dallas is again headed toward the lottery.
The official award ballots will be cast after the regular season concludes.
Source: ESPN
