Ballislife’s NBA MVP Ladder returns after a three week hiatus, and there’s lots to discuss. We pay tribute to Nikola Jokic’s half-decade run as an S tier frontrunner for the award with one final appearance for him in 2026, as he’s approaching the games missed limit. Cade Cunningham slides out of the top five after a series of sub-20 point scoring games, while two new faces in Donovan Mitchell and Victor Wembanyama make their first appearances after an impressive January from both.

The Ladder

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder (Age 27, 1-Time MVP)

Last ranking: No. 1

The 27-year-old reigning MVP had ample opportunity to build his MVP case over an absent Nikola Jokic these last three weeks, and it’s safe to say that’s exactly what he did. Since January 8, SGA is scoring right above his season average at 32.4 points per game and is doing so on 64 percent shooting to boot.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s best outing during this stretch came against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 19, where he scored 47 points on a remarkable 16-of-19 from the field while dishing out 11 assists and grabbing 7 rebounds. He also scored 47 points on 17-of-28 shooting against the Indiana Pacers on Friday, but the Thunder fell in a 117-114 stunner.

With 46 points tonight, Luka Dončić becomes the third player in NBA history to score 2,000 points in their first 65 games with a franchise.

He joins Wilt Chamberlain and Walt Bellamy pic.twitter.com/bjaUoWmmKK

— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) January 27, 2026

2. Luka Doncic, L.A. Lakers (Age 26, No MVPs)

Last ranking: No. 3

Doncic briefly left Wednesday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers with a lower leg injury, but when he’s on the floor for the Lakers, he’s been at his best. The 26-year-old leads the NBA in scoring at 33.8 points per game and is third in the league with 8.8 assists per game, and some of his most impressive performances of the season have come in the last few weeks.

Doncic lit up the Chicago Bulls from beyond the arc on Monday, making 8-of-14 attempts from 3-point range in a 46-point outburst. Doncic also tallied 11 assists, leading the Lakers to a 129-118 win. He also impressed in a 115-107 win over the shorthanded Denver Nuggets, tallying a 38-point triple-double with 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

3. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets (Age 30, 3-Time MVP)

Last ranking: No. 2

Jokic has missed the Nuggets’ last 15 games and will all but certainly be ineligible for the MVP award when he (likely) returns after being evaluated in a week due to the minimum games threshold. As such, this will be Jokic’s last appearance on the ladder this season, which is a shame because it truly felt like he was playing the best ball of his career when he went down on Dec. 29 against the Miami Heat.

One of the most recent times Jokic was on the court, he delivered one of the great regular season performances of all time in front of a primetime audience on Christmas Day. The three-time MVP notched 55 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists, becoming the first player in league history to record a 55/15/15 stat line.

(Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images)

4. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers (Age 29, No MVPs)

Last ranking: NR

It seems like the Cleveland Cavaliers are finally rounding into the team we all expected them to be, winning each of their last four games and six of their last seven. Of course, it’s Mitchell who’s been the driving force of those results. The 29-year-old scored 45 points to lead the Cavs over the Orlando Magic in their on Monday in Orlando, and that was just two days after he dropped 36 points on them in another double-digit win in Cleveland.

Mitchell’s 29.5 points per game rank third in the NBA and his 5.8 assists a game rank in the top 25 leaguewide. It seems he’s gone under the radar in a lot of MVP discussions until recently because Cleveland wasn’t stacking wins, but the reality is he’s been putting up these kind of numbers all season long and now appears to be reaching another gear.

5. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs (Age 22, No MVPs)

Last ranking: NR

The San Antonio Spurs are looking more and more like a championship contender and a potential thorn in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s side. We know the reason why. Victor Wembanyama has quickly become the type of player we assumed he would be when he was drafted first overall in 2023, wreaking havoc on the defensive end while providing poise and polish offensively.

The 22-year-old Frenchman is averaging 24.2 points and 11.1 rebounds per game, recording 10+ rebounds in each of his last four games and four of his last five. In the Spurs’ last win over the Utah Jazz on Jan. 22, Wembanyama exhibited his prowess on both ends of the floor by scoring 26 points on an efficient 9-of-14 shooting, while grabbing 14 rebounds and collecting five blocks on the defensive end.