A trio of former Kentucky players is up for some of the NBA’s top individual honors.
On Sunday night, the league announced its finalists for seven major awards honoring top performers from the 2025-26 NBA regular season. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in the mix for his second straight MVP, as well as Clutch Player of the Year. Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray is also up for Clutch Player of the Year, while San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson has been nominated for the Sixth Man of the Year award.
We’ll have to wait a while to see if SGA can repeat as MVP, but we’ll find out this week if he or Murray takes home Clutch Player of the Year, which will be revealed on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. ET on Peacock/NBC. A day later, we’ll find out if Johnson did enough to win Sixth Man of the Year when it’s announced on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Below is their competition.
Most Valuable Player
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)
- Nikola Jokic (DEN)
- Victory Wembanyama (SAS)
Clutch Player of the Year
- Anthony Edwards (MIN)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)
- Jamal Murray (DEN)
Sixth Man of the Year
- Tim Hardaway Jr. (DEN)
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. (MIA)
- Keldon Johnson (SAS)
Gilgeous-Alexander is the betting favorite to win another MVP, which would put him in rarefied air. He would become just the 16th player in NBA history with multiple MVP honors. The former ‘Cat had another elite scoring season in 2025-26, posting per-game averages of 31.1 points, 6.6 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 33.2 minutes. He shot 55.3 percent from the field (a career-high), 38.6 percent from deep, and 87.9 percent from the free-throw line.
With SGA leading the charge, the Thunder entered the NBA Playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference and one of the favorites to win the championship. OKC also won the title last year and would become the first back-to-back winner since the Golden State Warriors did the same in 2017 and 2018 if they can pull it off again.
As for Murray, it’s no surprise to see him up for Clutch Player of the Year. He posted an effective field goal percentage of 54.7 and a 94.4 percent mark from the free-throw line in the clutch (defined as a game within five points with under five minutes to play) this season, per Inpredictable. Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting even better in the clutch with a 61.6 effective field goal percentage and 88.5 percent from the stripe. The award is only in its fourth year, but we’ve already seen a former ‘Cat win it when De’Aaron Fox did so in 2022-23.
Johnson is in good shape to win Sixth Man of the Year, too. He’s seen his role decrease year-over-year with the Spurs, but he’s embraced it every step of the way as the franchise takes steps in the right direction. Johnson played all 82 regular-season games off the bench this season, averaging 13.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per outing on shooting splits of 51.9/36.3/79.4. He’s the betting favorite to win the award. Tyler Herro was the first UK alum to win Sixth Man of the Year, which he did in 2021-22 for the Miami Heat.
