By Joe Vardon
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo were named finalists for the 2025 NBA MVP, according to information released by the league and shared on TNT on Sunday.
One hundred media members covering the NBA decide seven individual awards as well as three All-NBA teams, two all-league defensive teams and two all-rookie teams. Winners for the individual awards will be announced on TNT during the network’s playoff coverage in the coming weeks.
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Among the more high-profile awards, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley, the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green and the Atlanta Hawks’ Dyson Daniels are finalists for Defensive Player of the Year; the Boston Celtics’ Payton Pritchard, Cleveland’s Ty Jerome and the Detroit Pistons’ Malik Beasley are finalists for Sixth Man of the Year; and the San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle, the Atlanta Hawks’ Zaccharie Risacher and the Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaylen Wells are finalists for Rookie of the Year.
Complete list of awards finalists for the 2024-25 NBA regular season ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/4bgbfQpohT
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 20, 2025
Jokić, the reigning MVP who’s won the award three times, is trying to join LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain as four-time winners. This was his best season statistically, averaging career highs in points (29.6 ppg), rebounds (12.7 rpg) and assists (10.2 apg).
Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, was not only the NBA’s top scorer with 32.7 points per game, but he was the best player on the league’s top team. Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP, averaged 30.4 points and 11.9 boards, but the race for MVP — the league’s highest individual honor in the regular season — is expected to be between Jokić and Gilgeous-Alexander.
There is no obvious front-runner for the league’s top defensive player. It would have been reigning Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, who averaged 3.8 blocks this season, but a blood clot in his shoulder cut his season short at 46 games; players are required to play in at least 65 games to be eligible for most awards. Daniels led the NBA with 3.0 steals per game.
Pritchard averaged 14 points and shot 41 percent from 3-point range off the Celtics’ bench. Jerome, who missed all of last season, averaged 12.5 points and shot over 50 percent from the field and better than 40 percent from 3-point range. Beasley was third in the league in 3s per game (3.9) and helped spark the Pistons’ dramatic turnaround from the worst team in the NBA to the No. 6 seed in the East.
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Wembanyama’s teammate, Castle, appeared in 81 games and averaged 14.7 points. The only rookie with a higher scoring average was Philadelphia’s Jared McCain, who played in just 23 games because of a torn knee ligament.
Finalists for the other three individual awards are:
- Coach of the Year: Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kenny Atkinson, Detroit Pistons’ J.B. Bickerstaff and Houston Rockets’ Ime Udoka.
- Clutch Player of the Year: New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards and Jokić of the Nuggets.
- Most Improved Player: Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham, L.A. Clippers’ Ivica Zubac and Daniels of the Hawks.
On Saturday, Atkinson was named coach of the year in the NBA by the trade association representing him and the league’s other 29 coaches. He is one of a few coaches in league history to win at least 60 games in his first season as coach.
(Photo: Joe Murphy / Getty Images)
Joe Vardon is a senior NBA writer for The Athletic, based in Cleveland. Follow Joe on Twitter @joevardon
