Now that the NBA season has some legs under it and narratives are starting to form, what better time is there for the first edition of Ballislife’s 2025-26 weekly NBA MVP ladder? It’s a pretty straightforward one, as there is already a clear handful of players that have solidified themselves as legitimate contenders for the award.
It may be early, but I’d already be willing to wager that the 2025-26 NBA MVP comes from this group that’s listed. There’s a lot of basketball to be played and a lot of fates left to be determined, however, so stay tuned to see just how much this list shakes up and just how right (or wrong) this take is at the end of the season.
1. Nikola Jokic (Age: 30, 3-Time MVP)
Nikola Jokic has already won three MVPs and a championship, so it probably sounds insane to say he’s playing the best basketball we’ve ever seen him play right now. But it’s the God’s honest truth. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst looked borderline shaken when describing the gravity of Jokic’s blazing hot start to the season, as if he was describing an extraterrestrial being.
“Jokic is doing stuff that’s wild, man,” Windhorst said. “He’s shooting 78% on two pointers. 78. Okay. He’s leading the league in rebounds. He’s leading the league in assists. Every 100 possessions that he’s on the court offensively, the Nuggets are scoring 151 points. Every hundred possessions he’s on the court defensively, the Nuggets are giving up 104 points.
“That means every 100 possessions he’s out there. The nuggets are outscoring the opposition by 47 points … He’s doing Wilt Chamberlain-type stuff now. I know we’re 11 games in, I’ve got to calm down.”
Not only is Jokic leading the league in rebounds and assists and racking up several eye-popping accomplishments, he also leads the Nuggets in five of the six major statistical categories. A 55-point double-double last Wednesday gives him pole position over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on account of recency, because this is a ladder after all.
2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Age: 27, 1-Time MVP)
After a 2025 NBA postseason that truly felt unpredictable, maybe you felt like there was a chance the Oklahoma City Thunder’s predicted chokehold over the next decade of NBA basketball wouldn’t be so firm. It’s taken Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Oklahoma City Thunder just 15 games to put those pipe dreams to rest.
The reigning MVP is playing even better than he did last season, en route to a 14-1 start without their second-best player in Jalen Williams. SGA ranks third in the NBA in scoring with 31.3 points per game this season, which sounds somewhat human before you realize that he’s sat out the fourth quarter nine times already this season.
If teams start playing the Thunder somewhat competitively during the regular season, SGA could legitimately increase his scoring to 35-40 points per game. If OKC keeps putting belt to behind, we may just have to start extrapolating the data so he doesn’t get the 2023 A’ja Wilson treatment.
3. Luka Doncic (Age: 26, No MVPs)
Skinny Luka is taking no prisoners on his revenge tour this season, and all you can do is feel horrible for Mavericks fans. Doncic is leading the NBA with 34.4 points per game this season and has led the Lakers to a 10-4 start to the season despite the fact LeBron James has yet to play a single game.
According to StatMuse, Doncic’s 8.9 rebounds per game rank second among guards and his 8.9 assists per game ranks fourth in the NBA overall. Doncic has also played some surprisingly good defense for the Lakers this season, which if anything, reveals just how bought in to the program Luka is in Los Angeles and just how desperate he is to prove to the newly unemployed Nico Harrison how ridiculous his decision to trade him was.
Luka notched his fourth 40-point game of the season already against the Bucks on Saturday and it’s all but certain he’ll be a mainstay on this list for the duration of the season if he still has similar scoring responsibilities when LeBron returns to the lineup.
4. Cade Cunnningham (Age: 24, No MVPs)
The Pistons and the spectacular Deeeeeee-troit basketball fanbase are surprisingly one of just seven active NBA franchises that have never seen one of their players win an MVP award. Even if it doesn’t happen this season, you have to imagine that it’s only a matter of time before Cade Cunningham breaks that hex and brings the award to the city for the first time.
Cunningham has led the Pistons to 11 wins in a row as they’ve jumped out to an impressive 12-2 start that has them three games clear in first place in the Eastern Conference and just 1.5 games shy of a seemingly historically great Thunder team for the best record in the NBA.
The fifth-year former No. 1 overall pick is averaging career highs with 27.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game and his leadership has jettisoned the Pistons from a reasonably dangerous playoff team to a team that is a legitimate and immediate threat to win the Eastern Conference and contend for an NBA title, not unlike the way the Indiana Pacers burst on the scene in 2025.
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Age: 30, 2-Time MVP)
The Milwaukee Bucks go as Giannis Antetokounmpo goes, and boy, was he going. Giannis is averaging 31.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game this season. He’s scored at least 30 points in nine of his 13 appearances this season, including Monday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where left with a groin injury.
Giannis’ value to the Bucks will truly become apparent in the coming weeks as he will almost certainly be missing time. He’s due for an MRI on Tuesday that will reveal the exact scope of the damage, but this may be the last time Antetokounmpo appears on this list for a while despite a dominant start that’s helped give this Bucks team a little bit of life this season.
