Inside the NBA's MVP race: Gilgeous-Alexander favored to win again, but there may be some intrigue

For the first time in about 20 years, the NBA's MVP race might actually be, well, a race. At least, it feels like there's at least some intrigue regarding who'll wind up winning the Michael Jordan Trophy later this spring. Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the clear favorite to win the MVP award again, which makes a lot of sense.

He's the best player on the league's best team, and he has similar numbers to when he was the runaway winner a year ago. But there are more legitimate candidates than there have seemed to be in past years. Denver's Nikola Jokic remains a perennial candidate and is putting together a season the likes of which have never been seen in NBA history.

San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama has made clear that he wants the award. Boston's Jaylen Brown has been hearing MVP chants from adoring fans for months, a thank-you of sorts for how he kept the injury-riddled Celtics near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. “I think it’s good for the league,” Gilgeous-Alexander said a few days ago when asked about the MVP race.

“I think it’s good chatter. It gives people something to talk about. There’s a lot of good players in this league and a lot of guys in the conversation because of that.