Crisis lingers: Eight years without an American-born MVP

From the time it was first given out in 1956 until the 2017-2018 season, the NBA regular season MVP was practically an award for American players. During that entire period, only three foreigners managed to prevail: Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon, Canadian Steve Nash (twice) and German Dirk Nowitzki. Now, the story has changed radically.

The NBA announced the three players eligible for the award: reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada), three-time MVP Nikola Jokic (Serbia); and Victor Wembanyama (France), who could become the youngest ever to achieve this status.

Thus, it will be the eighth consecutive occasion in which a player born outside of U.S. borders win the award, highlighting one of the biggest identity crises in the history of local talent in the NBA.

A problem that lies in player development?

It's not that the United States has stopped producing stars. Once upon a time, players like Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Jaylen Brown and Jalen Brunson, to name a few examples, would have been named regular-season MVP on occasion, considering their numbers and significance on each of their teams. The problem lies in the fact that those who were brought up outside the country, mainly in Europe, arrived to the best basketball league in the world with different fundamentals than those who came up through the American ranks.

Leaving aside Gilgeous-Alexander, who played at the University of Kentucky—Jokic and Wembanyama, as well as other top NBA stars like Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) received training in their European academies in which team and tactical knowledge is prioritized more, although individual performance is not neglected.

In the United States, it is different. Because in the development of future NBA stars comes into play the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) system. This method is based on private entities that compete in tournaments during the spring and summer. The most talented athletes are grouped into teams sponsored by sports apparel giants and travel across the country to play in front of college recruiters and professional scouts.

In the AAU system, coaches focus their efforts on making their players more physically strong and more individually-driven in their play. That is, their goal for players to focus on scoring and making highlights over defense and off-ball movement. This trend that seems to be hurting them at the top level.

Renowned personalities like Kobe Bryant and Steve Kerr have been highly critical of the AAU system.

No doubts with the three nominees

The statistics recorded by the three contenders for the 2025-2026 NBA MVP leave no doubt that they were the three best players this regular season.

Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP, led the Oklahoma City Thunder to dominate the Western Conference, something it did last season as well. The franchise's undisputed leader, the Canadian playmaker known as "SGA," scored 31.1 points per game. He has not dropped below a 30-point-per-game average over the past four regular seasons. He is 27 years old.

Jokic, 31, is aiming for his fourth MVP award and, thus, matching LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain. The Serbian, nicknamed "Joker," has led the Denver Nuggets on the floor since he arrived 11 years ago. He once again confirmed that he is the best center in the world by averaging a triple-double: 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game.

In the case of Wembanyama, the Frenchman's rise in the NBA could not have been more meteoric. At 22, "Wemby," the San Antonio Spurs superstar, is aiming to become the youngest player in history to receive the MVP award, dethroning Derrick Rose. His averaged 25 points and 11.5 rebounds per game on the year.