2025 NBA MVP finalists: Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic and Giannis - ESPN

The NBA playoffs set up the biggest stage for the league's stars to make their mark. Nowhere is this more clear this season than with the top two MVP candidates, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, squaring off in the Western Conference's second round.

The pair have been battling it out in the MVP race all season, so it would only make sense that their teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets, would run into each other while chasing the NBA's ultimate goal, the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Despite the fanfare around the matchup, the MVP is a regular-season award, and both players recorded memorable seasons in their own, unique ways.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the 68-win Thunder to the West's top seed while averaging a league-leading 32.7 points per game while adding 5.0 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game on 51.9% shooting. Oklahoma City finished 16 games ahead of the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets in the regular season in one of the most impressive runs in recent memory.

Meanwhile, Jokic was putting together arguably his best statistical season while guiding the Nuggets to the No. 4 seed in the West. He averaged a triple-double this season, finishing the regular season with averages of 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists. If he were to win the award, it would be his fourth MVP in five seasons and he would become one of just five players in NBA history to claim MVP honors four times.

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo rounds out the MVP finalists after averaging 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists this season.

NBA reporter Tim Bontemps' final MVP straw poll and awards ballot reveal that while it's a tight race, Gilgeous-Alexander held a slight lead at the end of the regular season.

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