The NBA will announce the winner of the Most Valuable Player award on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime, just before the start of Game 7 of the Cavaliers–Pistons series, the league office tweets.
Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama are the three finalists for the award.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.1 points, 6.6 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 68 regular-season games while leading the Thunder to a league-high 64 victories. He shot a career-best 55.3 percent from the field.
Jokic is seeking his fourth career MVP. The Nuggets center averaged a triple-double for the second consecutive season with 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and a career-high 10.7 assists in 70 games. Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.1 blocks in 64 games. He was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year last month. The Spurs center would be the first French player to claim the MVP trophy.
The Spurs will face the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, beginning on Monday, and the scheduling announcement hints that SGA could be the winner, the Associated Press notes. Last season, Gilgeous-Alexander was announced as the winner on May 21, and he was formally presented with the trophy before Game 2 of the conference finals in Oklahoma City the following day.
That’s silly to suggest it’s a hint. They want to announce before the finals – regardless of who is winning. Not saying it won’t be SGA just not a hint.