SGA still MVP? Spurs, Pistons triumph
NEW YORK—The San Antonio Spurs are off to the Western Conference finals while the Detroit Pistons squeezed a knockout match out of their East semifinals duel against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The NBA will reveal this season’s Most Valuable Player on Sunday, which just happens to be the day before Game 1 of the Western Conference finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Spurs.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the reigning MVP and he’s one of the three finalists for the award this season—along with Spurs center Victor Wembanyama and Denver’s Nikola Jokic. Amazon Prime Video announced that it would reveal the MVP winner during its pregame show Sunday, which starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
No matter who wins, it’ll be the eighth consecutive season in which a player who was born outside the US takes the MVP trophy.
This international run of MVPs started with Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (born in Greece, of Nigerian descent) in 2019 and 2020, then Denver’s Nikola Jokic (Serbia) in 2021 and 2022, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (born in Cameroon but has since become a U.S. citizen) in 2023, Jokic again in 2024 and Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada) last year.
Wembanyana would be the first French player to win MVP, and Jokic is seeking a fourth MVP—something only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Michael Jordan (five), Bill Russell (five), Wilt Chamberlain (four) and LeBron James (four) have done.
It’ll also be the 12th MVP award overall for an international player. Before this current run, Nigeria’s Hakeem Olajuwon won in 1994, Canada’s Steve Nash won in 2005 and 2006, and Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki won in 2007.
The scheduling of the announcement may be a hint that Gilgeous-Alexander might be the winner, because it would have the same time-frame that the MVP reveal followed a year ago. In 2025, Gilgeous-Alexander was announced as the winner May 21, and he was formally presented with the trophy before Game 2 of the West finals in Oklahoma City on May 22.
This year, the Sunday announcement comes a day before the Thunder plays host to Game 1 of the West finals on Monday night.
In Minneapolis, Stephon Castle had 32 points and 11 rebounds to highlight another dominant performance from the San Antonio backcourt, and Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs raced past the Minnesota Timberwolves 139-109 on Friday night to win the series in six games.
De’Aaron Fox added 21 points and nine assists and rookie Dylan Harper had 15 points off the bench for the Spurs. They will face defending champion Oklahoma City in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Monday night. The Thunder swept their first two series.
Wembanyama, who bounced back from his stunning Game 4 ejection with 27 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the Game 5 blowout, was well-guarded by the Wolves in Game 6 and had a quiet 19 points in 27 minutes. But he still served as a constant defensive deterrent in the paint, and he dutifully joined the Spurs in transition whenever they had the opportunity to run—which was often.
In Cleveland, Jalen Duren helped keep the Detroit Pistons’ season alive after struggling for most of their Eastern Conference second-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Detroit’s All-Star center had 15 points and 11 rebounds in Friday night’s 115-94 victory that forced a Game 7 on Sunday.
It was a strong performance by Duren, who was benched for the final 17 minutes of Detroit’s 117-113 overtime loss on Wednesday.
“My confidence never wavered in myself. I know what I can do. I know what I can be and try to keep it rolling,” Duren said. “I’m playing my best basketball when I’m being assertive and picking my spots. I think early on I was just getting a groove.”
