NBA Season 2025-26

[Who]

From ESPN - they did a poll on MVP as well as the Rookie of the Year. Here the MVP results.

In a poll of 100 NBA media members conducted Monday through Wednesday, Gilgeous-Alexander leads our ballot with only 10 days left in the regular season.

NBA MVP straw poll 3.0: Full results
Name   TEAM   1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   Total votes Total points

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander   OKC   88   9   3   0   0   100   958

Victor Wembanyama   SA   8   63   19   9   1   100   644
Nikola Jokic   DEN   3   20   52   23   1   99   500
Luka Doncic   LAL   0   6   24   59   8   97   347

Jaylen Brown   BOS   1   2   2   7   68   80   123

Kawhi Leonard   LAC   0   0   0   1   14   15   17
Donovan Mitchell   CLE   0   0   0   1   5   6   8
Jalen Brunson   NY   0   0   0   0   1   1   1
Anthony Edwards   MIN   0   0   0   0   1   1   1
Tyrese Maxey   PHI   0   0   0   0   1   1   1

Voters were told to leave off Cade Cunningham as he was unlikely to qualify due to lack of games played.

It's also important to note that voters were instructed to leave Pistons All-Star guard Cade Cunningham off their ballots after the collapsed lung he suffered last month probably ended his regular season at 61 games played.

The consensus among the 100 media members polled was that Cunningham would've landed anywhere from third to fifth, probably cutting into the vote totals for Jokic and Doncic but not doing much to change the tenor of the race between Gilgeous-Alexander and Wembanyama.

[CptZoogs]

Anthony Edwards is no longer eligible for NBA postseason awards after missing the Minnesota Timberwolves' 113-108 loss to the Detroit Pistons due to illness.

Edwards has played in 59 games, though only 58 count for the league's record of games. The Wolves have six games remaining in the season.

So even if he plays the remaining 6 games, gets to 65 games played, he will still be ineligible because one of those games does not count. Presumably because he did not play enough minutes before leaving injured / ejected.

Yeah, one game he played only 3 minutes. Left with injury. Missed next 4 games. Early in the season. 3rd game of the season.

This is ridiculous. Ruling guys eligible or ineligible over 1 game.

What would you propose instead of a bright-line rule?

Why not start with a points based score for each award slot, then weight the scores based on the proportion of potential minutes played (to account for situations where a player tries to suit up, but leaves early due to injury or ejection).  So there is no arbitrary and binary delimitation, but if a player misses an excessive amount of time, then it will be an uphill challenge to win.

[Atzar]

Torn, tbh.  I'm fine with the 65-game rule conceptually, but I kind of wonder if it may be having the opposite of the intended effect. 

Look how many players are flirting with the line this season.  Kind of feels like the goal has shifted from "play every game, if healthy" to "play 65-70 games for maximal rest over the course of the season while preserving award eligibility".  Then the maintenance plan blows up for a few players when they get hurt down the stretch and can't hit the benchmark anymore.