Inside the MVP numbers: Appeals paid off for Doncic and Cunningham, and Jokic’s streak continues

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The All-NBA first team this season might have been decided in part by an appeals process.

Successful petitions by the Los Angeles Lakers ′ Luka Doncic and Detroit Pistons ′ Cade Cunningham to gain eligibility for awards such as MVP and All-NBA this season — even after they fell short of the 65-game minimum — seem like they’re about to become very worthwhile. Doncic was fourth and Cunningham was fifth in the MVP voting, released Sunday night.

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And since the All-NBA teams are now positionless, it would seem that puts Doncic and Cunningham in position to be first-team selections when the league releases those teams in the coming days.

The voting process is this: The NBA polls 100 reporters and broadcasters who cover the league and has them select their top choices in various categories. For MVP, voters rank their top five selections in order — and since All-NBA follows the same process, it stands to reason that the same voters would have first-team All-NBA listed in identical fashion to their MVP choices.

That would suggest the All-NBA first team would be MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City, Nikola Jokic of Denver, Victor Wembanyama of San Antonio, Doncic and Cunningham.

Doncic and Cunningham both appeared in 64 games this season. But the league and the National Basketball Players Association both agreed that each should be on the ballot based on the “extraordinary circumstances provision” in the collective bargaining agreement.

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Doncic missed two games to attend the birth of his daughter in Slovenia. Cunningham missed 12 games as a result of a collapsed lung that was diagnosed on March 17.

Cunningham 1st U.S. player with 1st-place votes since 2021

Cunningham got two first-place votes in the MVP balloting. He’s the first U.S.-born player to get any of those in the last five years.

The last time an American-born player got a first-place vote was 2021, when Stephen Curry got five, Chris Paul got two and Derrick Rose got one.

Jokic top-2 again, tying record

Jokic finished second in the MVP race, and he joined a pair of Boston Celtics Hall of Famers by doing…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/inside-mvp-numbers-appeals-paid-003145158.html

Author : TIM REYNOLDS

Publish date : 2026-05-18 00:31:00

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