There are two types of NBA MVPs, at least with the benefit of historical hindsight. There are the guys, and there are the guys between the guys. Some MVPs get trophies. Some get eras.

There’s a collective agreement among most basketball observers, at least with the benefit of hindsight, that players like Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar probably should have more MVP trophies. Each had an undisputed decade-long reign as the NBA’s best player. Whether it was voter fatigue or down years or narratives or baseball sabbaticals, none of them were honored to the extent that they probably should have been. They frankly didn’t need to be. Their legacies were bigger than a single, contextual award.

The MVP award doesn’t function the same way for all winners. For the Karl Malones, Derrick Roses and Bob McAdoos of the world, the award is a peak. It is an acknowledgment of a moment in time in which they touched immortality, even if they didn’t quite grab it. When we talk about Steve Nash, the MVP awards are the first things that come up, and the second, even if it’s reductive and unfair, is the notion that Nash winning those trophies at the peak of Kobe Bryant’s and Tim Duncan’s powers is a bit of an oddity. 

When we talk about Magic Johnson, the MVPs are a footnote. There’s no need to define him by a trophy because it was simply understood that the NBA, for a time, belonged to him, and the trophies are just a manifestation of what we understood implicitly. That’s how MVPs tend to function in all-time conversations. They’re table stakes for the sort of historical company players like this are trying to keep. You have to have them, but having them in and of itself does not punch a ticket into the pantheon.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander named MVP: Thunder star becomes just 14th player to win back-to-back awards

Sam Quinn

Advertisement

Nikola Jokić straddles that line. In truth, we’ll probably look back on the period between 2019 and 2025 as the parity era, but Jokić was, by near total consensus, its best player. We all think we know what’s coming next. If Victor Wembanyama stays healthy, it feels as though the unquestioned dominion that Jordan and James once held over the league for sustained periods is suddenly back on the table. At some point soon, Wembanyama is probably going to be the league’s best player, and if he does the things we think he can once he’s there, the next era of NBA history will almost certainly belong to him.

Where does that leave Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the guy who just claimed his second consecutive trophy? Well, we don’t quite know yet, but we may soon.

Just having the trophies puts Gilgeous-Alexander in incredible company. He’s now the 14th player to win consecutive MVPs, joining Nash, Malone, Johnson, Jordan, James, Abdul-Jabbar, Duncan, Jokić, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Stephen Curry and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The numbers that generated those trophies are just as impressive. Only Curry and Antetokounmpo have ever posted higher effective field goal percentages in 30-point-per-game seasons than Gilgeous-Alexander did. Only Jordan ever won MVP at guard committing fewer turnovers per possession, and remember, he was a shooting guard while Gilgeous-Alexander is a point guard. Only one player, Luka Dončić, scored more total points than Gilgeous-Alexander this season. But 39 players touched the ball more times than he did.

There is already a real legacy here. Gilgeous-Alexander is practically breaking efficiency scales, generating a mind-boggling number of points per touch and shot while surrendering none of those points back through turnovers or poor defense. He is an absolute machine of consistency. He hasn’t scored fewer than 20 points in a game for almost two full regular seasons. There was a sense of disappointment when the Thunder didn’t seriously pursue the all-time wins record this season, but that undersold just how historically dominant they’ve been. Gilgeous-Alexander was the best player on a team that won 132 games across two seasons. Only Jordan and Curry have ever done that.

All of that is great and absolutely meaningful, but legacies are a bit like jokes. They lose impact once you have to explain them. This is part of why Nash gets so frequently reduced to the MVPs. It’s simpler than explaining how someone who averaged 14.3 points per game for his career could be one of the greatest generators of team offense in MVP history. It’s easier to say “he won two MVPs” than to explain how he was the point guard for the NBA’s most efficient offense eight times in a 10-year span. 

Of course, Nash also gets reduced to the trophies because of what he lacks. He never won a championship. Gilgeous-Alexander already has one. He could retire tomorrow as something like a top-30 player in NBA history, and if he just maintains his rough statistical profile with no more MVPs or titles, he’ll climb even higher. He’s passed Nash. He’s going to pass most of the “guy between the guys” MVPs.

But something about Gilgeous-Alexander’s title run a season ago didn’t quite land with the satisfying authority an all-timer’s first championship usually does. Maybe it was Tyrese Haliburton‘s torn Achilles tendon. Maybe it was his postseason efficiency dip or how loaded his team was or the fact that he’s still not especially popular among casual fans relative to what he’s accomplished. But there wasn’t an obvious baton-passing last spring. When CBS Sports ranked the top 100 players in the NBA before the season, Jokić retained his No. 1 spot. ESPN, Bleacher Report and most other publications to engage in the exercise came to that conclusion as well.

Jokić won’t be passing the baton this spring either. He dropped it on the floor in Minnesota. One way or another, someone else is picking it up in the next month, and if that person is Wembanyama, well, odds are he’s not letting go of it for a long, long time. 

Conveniently enough, Wembanyama and Gilgeous-Alexander are about to face each other in the Western Conference finals. The notion of meaningful legacy stakes for a series between a 27-year-old and a 22-year-old seems almost laughable on paper. Gilgeous-Alexander may not even be halfway through his career. He has nothing left to prove as an individual player. We’re talking about someone who is already drawing statistical comparisons to Jordan and Curry.

But Jordan got an era, and Curry at least shared part of one with James. If there is going to be a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander era, it probably needs to happen now, before Wembanyama reaches whatever terrifying peak he’s destined for. And if it isn’t now, that probably nudges Gilgeous-Alexander’s historical regard into that slightly less meaningful pool of MVP winners. It makes him the guy between Jokić’s run and Wembanyama’s inevitable ascent.

He’s better than the Malones and the Roses and the McAdoos and the Nashes of the world. He’s good enough for the inner circle of MVP winners. But history isn’t known for its kindness and neither are basketball fans. The easy comparison here, though he never won an MVP, would be Isiah Thomas. He took down both Johnson and Bird, effectively ending their reign atop the league, and won consecutive championships. He’s remembered today primarily as a foil for Jordan, the one he needed to beat before he could become, well, Michael Jordan. It’s never been terribly fair, but these conversations usually aren’t.

Yet it adds an undeniable layer of drama to what was already one of the most anticipated playoff series in recent memory, especially since Wembanyama openly campaigned for the MVP award. He’s going to spend the next seven games trying to force Gilgeous-Alexander to validate a trophy he thinks should belong to him. The playoffs aren’t supposed to seep into MVP discourse, but they undeniably shape how they’re remembered.

Most of those “guys between the guys” winners are in that group because they lost to the guys, or worse, they lost to someone else. Joel Embiid‘s 2023 MVP is the most recent example of this phenomenon. Jokić spent the whole year hearing about what a historical crisis it would be to give him a third consecutive MVP before he won a championship… only to win the championship while the MVP, Embiid, blew a 3-2 second-round lead to Boston. The playoffs don’t determine who wins MVP, but they’re very often the determining factor in how those MVPs are remembered.

That’s where Gilgeous-Alexander now sits. He has his two trophies. Now he’s playing for an era, and getting one means holding off the Martian giant in San Antonio for at least one more year.

Earlier in the day on Sunday, we laid out the case for J.J. McCarthy as the Minnesota Vikings’ QB1 in 2026. You can read that here. The team claims it will hold a real training camp battle between McCarthy and Kyler Murray, so now it’s time to make the case for Murray.

The pressure on McCarthy changed dramatically.

Murray is the heavy frontrunner to prevail — a -1,000 moneyline — and here’s why.

Minnesota Suddenly Has a Real QB Competition

Do you think Murray will take down McCarthy at training camp?

Vikings Have Murray for One Year; McCarthy for Three More

If the Vikings are in the mood, they totally own McCarthy’s rights through the end of 2028. They can play him for every snap; they can park him on the bench for three more years.

With Murray, he has one pivotal season before testing the free-agent market next March. Based on his track record, Murray deserves an audition to see if the Vikings are tailor-made for his skill set. Minnesota has one chance to try this — in 2026.

If Murray doesn’t work out, well, McCarthy will be ready and waiting as an option in 2027.

Something to Prove

Arizona drafted Kyler first overall in 2019, just a year after squandering a first-round pick on Josh Rosen. Murray was immediately seen as a franchise reset. For seven seasons, he capably held the Cardinals’ QB1 job, making the franchise appear legitimate at the sport’s most crucial position, yet he ultimately secured zero playoff wins.

The significant 2026 offseason brought a cleanout. Arizona fired Jonathan Gannon, hired Mike LaFleur, and decided their next chapter would begin without Murray. With virtually no trade leverage, the Cardinals released him in March, opting for Jacoby Brissett and Carson Beck as their new quarterback solution. It remains astonishing: a former No. 1 pick, still in his prime, pushed out while his former team still pays him to play for someone else.

Minnesota emerged as the obvious landing spot. The Vikings needed genuine quarterback competition for McCarthy, and Murray sought a fresh start in a better football environment.

His childhood fandom for the Vikings only made the fit feel more natural after Arizona cut him. And the price tag was nearly irresistible: one year, $1.3 million, with the Cardinals still shouldering most of the cost.

Arizona may have treated him as a bust, but the Cardinals have hardly been a quarterback factory or a beacon of NFL success. Beyond rare exceptions like Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner, the franchise has often failed to maximize the potential of its stars.

So, perhaps Murray is damaged goods. Or perhaps he’s simply the latest reminder that one team’s discarded problem can become another team’s bargain treasure. Murray will do everything in his power to make the Cardinals look like morons for dropping him, including slicing and dicing opponents as a member of the Vikings.

Speed, Arm Strength, Accuracy, Experience Clear JJM

Kyler Murray is faster than J.J. McCarthy.
Kyler Murray has a stronger arm than J.J. McCarthy.
Kyler Murray is more accurate than J.J. McCarthy.
Kyler Murray is the fifth-most accurate quarterback in NFL history.
Kyler Murray has more experience than J.J. McCarthy.

This is not that complicated. Murray is the guy to lead the Vikings in 2026.

The Career Production Is Undeniable

Murray averages these numbers every 17 starts:

— 3,997 Passing Yards
— 30 Total Touchdowns
— 11 INTs
— 67.1% Completion
— 623 Rushing Yards

Minnesota doesn’t need Murray to conduct a career renaissance. He just needs to play like his healthy self. Those numbers would nibble at MVP consideration, so long as the squad had a winning record.

Murray Is Just a Better QB

One can study the pros and cons of Murray or McCarthy as the Vikings’ QB1 in September until they’re blue in the face, but it really boils down to this: in 2026, Murray is a better quarterback. McCarthy has done absolutely nothing since April 2024 to state a case that suggests he’s more productive than Murray. That may sound brutal, but it is the truth.

Will Murray be better than McCarthy forever? Maybe. Maybe not. In the here and now, however, Murray has the more advanced skills and experience.

Former NFLer Bart Scott said this week, “I think at the end of this season, I think we may say that Kyler Murray is the most talented quarterback within that division. You play here with Kevin O’Connell, with the weapons that he has, a tight end and TJ Hockenson, you have Justin Jefferson, you have Jordan Addison, go out and get a gritty guy like Jauan Jennings.”

“I think the sky’s the limit for Kyler Murray. When you’re doing all that, you’re going to have little Mandalorian running around here for 25 seconds with guys just one-on-one down the field.”

For a team that wants to win now, Murray is simply the smarter option. Head coach Kevin O’Connell can always pivot to McCarthy if Murray struggles.

Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … More about Dustin Baker

In the penultimate game of the Premier League season for both sides, Chelsea welcome London rivals Tottenham Hotspur to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

It’s probably arguable that Tottenham have more riding on this than Chelsea. They need one point to be safe from the threat of relegation, following West Ham’s loss to Newcastle on Sunday.

Chelsea could probably do with a win too to keep their hopes of European qualification alive, but the Blues may also simply want to get this season out of the way and move onto next season – with Xabi Alonso now confirmed as their next boss.

Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• If they want to claim that valuable point, Tottenham will absolutely need to buck a lengthy trend at Stamford Bridge. They almost always lose at Chelsea’s home ground, and have only claimed a solitary point in their last four visits there. The last time they won there was in 2018.
• Chelsea will not have much time to prepare for this game, as they only played on Saturday in the FA Cup final, losing to Manchester City after a brave effort. With this in mind, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see interim boss Callum MacFarlane rest some key players here.
• Tottenham last played just under a week ago, drawing with Leeds at home. The result felt like a disappointment at first, but given Leeds’ strong form, could now be considered a good point to claim – particularly after West Ham’s loss this weekend.
• Chelsea are actually in the worst form in the entire Premier League right now. They’ve claimed just one point from their last seven matches, losing six in a row before drawing with Liverpool on May 9th. Moreover, this sequence has seen them score just two goals all told while conceding 15 in return.
• While Tottenham are not out of danger just yet, they have improved drastically since the arrival of Roberto de Zerbi. They’re now unbeaten in four games – the first time they’ve managed this since September – and have taken the lead in all four of those matches.

Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur Prediction

History would suggest that Chelsea will defeat their London rivals as per usual here, making Tottenham sweat for their safety on the final day of the season.

However, there’s just nothing to suggest that the Blues are about to turn their slump around, while Tottenham have looked much improved under de Zerbi, particularly in terms of their pressing and counter-attacking.

Given Chelsea will likely come onto Spurs, rather than attempt to shut them out as Leeds did, the stylistic match may well favour the away side here.

Tottenham’s awful record at Stamford Bridge makes it impossible to predict a win for them here, but to see them claim the point they need to survive feels likely.

Prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result – Draw.

Tip 2: Tottenham to score first – Yes (Tottenham have scored first in their last four matches).

Tip 3: Chelsea to score in the second half – Yes (Chelsea have scored in the second half in Tottenham’s last three visits to Stamford Bridge).