2026 NBA Awards Ballot: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP, Kon Knueppel for Rookie of the Year
Here's how one official ballot for year-end awards will look like.
For the seventh straight year, the NBA asked me if I’d like to be one the media members with an official ballot for year-end awards. I said yes, and here’s how I decided to use it. Quick note: I’m writing this before I receive the link to my actual ballot, which won’t come until after the end of the regular season, when the powers that be make their final tabulations on who qualifies under the league’s 65-game threshold for awards consideration.
As such, I might need to make a change or two before I click submit. For the most part, though, here’s what my picks for the 2025-26 NBA regular season will look like: Most Valuable Player Defensive Player of the Year Rookie of the Year Coach of the Year Sixth Man of the Year Most Improved Player Clutch Player of the Year Most Valuable Player 1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder 2.
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs 3. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets 4. Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers* 5.
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics In a campaign defined by a pretty phenomenal top four individual talents, all of whom have staked legitimate claim to being the league’s best player at one point or another during this season, I came back to the player I believe has been the best throughout the season: from celebrating ring night by carrying his team to a double-overtime win through nailing down a 60-win season and the top overall seed throughout the NBA playoffs — for the second straight year. Gilgeous-Alexander is the best player on the NBA’s best team, and the driving force behind the Thunder’s excellence. They’ve won at a 68-win pace in the games he’s played, and have outscored opponents by 16.
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