During these final weeks of the regular season, it is widely believed that the push to take home league MVP honors is now a two-man race between OKC Thunder cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and San Antonio Spurs wunderkind Victor Wembanyama.
The arguments for each are well-constructed and hard to object to -- from Wemby's defensive domination to SGA's historic scoring feats, both are putting forth magical, all-around seasons and are the driving forces behind their teams' top-notch title odds.
These closing games heading into the playoffs will provide each an opportunity to make their final case to voters, though ultimately, ESPN's Jay Williams believes that the deciding factor should come down to who between the two can lead their team to the top record in the association.
Holding onto first place would bode well for Thunder star's MVP push
During Monday's episode of Get Up!, the former Duke standout-turned-analyst claimed that he would "love to see us finally reward the regular season" and crown whatever star can clinch the number one record as MVP.
"The Spurs are two and a half games back from OKC. Can we just say that whoever wins the regular season, who has the best record, ends up getting the MVP? I mean, I think you're talking about two prolific players who are extremely dominant... I actually want to see it be a regular-season award, and I want to see it culminate with who has the better record down the stretch,"Â Williams said.
As things currently stand, Gilgeous-Alexander's Thunder hold the edge in this department.
Following Sunday night's win over the New York Knicks, Oklahoma City has improved to 59-16 on the season and has come away victorious in 14 of its last 15 outings.
Of course, as Williams noted, the Spurs are right on OKC's tail in the Western Conference standings with their record of 56-18.
The troubling part for the Thunder is the fact that San Antonio absolutely dominated their five-game season series here in 2025-26, meaning that if the two clubs were to somehow finish with the same record once each reaches game 82, the top seed and branding of best overall record in the regular season would be given to the Spurs.
The last seven games on the docket are gearing up to be far from a cakewalk for the reigning champions, as they have the toughest remaining strength of schedule in the league, according to tankathon.
Coincidently, San Antonio's final eight games rank in at a far more enviable 18.
At this moment, the race for MVP seems to be too close to call. Perhaps voters will be like-minded to Williams and place considerable weight on which of these two stars can bring their team to the number-one record when making their decision.