NBA MVP Race 2026: Chet Holmgren Backs SGA for Repeat

Chet Holmgren declared Tuesday that no other player comes close to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the NBA MVP Race, backing his Oklahoma City Thunder teammate for a second straight award. The endorsement landed March 24, 2026, as MVP chatter intensifies with the regular season entering its final weeks. Holmgren watches SGA operate in practice and in games daily — his confidence carries weight.

Oklahoma City has built one of the deepest rosters in the West. Yet the franchise”s identity flows directly through Gilgeous-Alexander. His scoring, shot creation, and late-clock execution have drawn award attention since opening night, and the numbers have not cooled that conversation. SGA leads the MVP ladder entering the final stretch.

Why Holmgren Believes SGA Stands Alone

Holmgren”s case for Gilgeous-Alexander rests on a simple premise: Thunder success runs through one player more than any other. Speaking on The Arena, Holmgren acknowledged the depth around SGA before circling back to his singular impact. “We got a lot of great people making it happen,” Holmgren said, framing SGA”s campaign as a team-wide mission.

Advanced metrics tell a clear story. Gilgeous-Alexander”s usage rate and true shooting percentage have stayed elite all season. High usage paired with top-tier efficiency is the rarest pairing in professional basketball — most ball-dominant players see shot quality erode as the workload climbs. SGA has avoided that trap.

His win-shares profile separates him from the field. That gap is why teammates speak with such certainty when the MVP debate comes up. Oklahoma City”s defensive rating has also ranked among the league”s best, meaning Gilgeous-Alexander”s value extends well beyond scoring totals. A player who anchors a top defense while carrying the primary offensive load earns a net-rating argument few rivals can counter.

Who Is Chasing Gilgeous-Alexander?

Multiple players have been closing the gap on SGA in the MVP ladder as the calendar flips toward April. The Western Conference remains loaded with credible contenders, and Eastern Conference stars have posted campaigns that keep the award from being a formality.

Historical context matters. Back-to-back MVP winners are rare — Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James all pulled it off, but the list is short by design. Voters tend to reward novelty. Any challenger who posts a comparable statistical season with a similar team record carries a structural argument simply by being fresh to the conversation. That is the counterargument Holmgren”s endorsement must overcome.

Oklahoma City”s standing in the West adds real weight to SGA”s candidacy. MVP voters favor players on winning teams, and the Thunder have spent most of the season near the conference summit. A team”s overall record functions as a proxy for individual impact in many voters” minds, and Gilgeous-Alexander”s fingerprints are on virtually every Thunder victory.

Key Developments in the 2026 MVP Campaign

• Holmgren made his comments on The Arena, giving the endorsement a public, on-record character rather than a locker-room aside.
• Thunder players broadly share Holmgren”s confidence in SGA winning the award, per the source, suggesting a unified team narrative around the push.
• A repeat victory would place Gilgeous-Alexander among fewer than a dozen players who have claimed consecutive MVPs across league history.
• Oklahoma City”s roster depth — which Holmgren referenced directly — may cause SGA”s raw usage numbers to understate his true impact, since the Thunder can distribute load in ways that protect his efficiency metrics.
• The MVP ladder movement cited in the source indicates at least one challenger has accelerated recently, keeping the contest alive rather than settled.

What the Final Weeks Mean for SGA

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander enters the closing stretch of the 2025-26 regular season as the clear MVP front-runner, but the final 10 to 15 games will shape how voters weigh his body of work against the challengers behind him. Oklahoma City”s remaining schedule, its seeding outcome, and Gilgeous-Alexander”s per-game output in high-stakes contests will all factor into the final ballot. Holmgren”s public declaration adds a social layer to the race — it frames the Thunder locker room as fully invested in SGA”s individual award, which can color the narrative that voters absorb through media coverage over the final month.

From a game-theory standpoint, the optimal play for any MVP challenger is to peak statistically in March and April, when voter recency bias is strongest. If SGA holds his current efficiency profile through the finish, the numbers suggest his lead will be durable. A late-season dip, however modest, could invite a closer vote than Holmgren”s tone implies.

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has constructed a system that maximizes Gilgeous-Alexander”s strengths without over-exposing him to defensive schemes targeting his pick-and-roll reads. That structural support is part of the MVP story. The Thunder”s front-office decisions over the past three drafts produced the supporting cast that makes SGA”s efficiency numbers possible. Whether voters credit the player or the system is always a live debate — but Holmgren”s answer is unambiguous.

The tracking data, the team record, and the vocal backing of a fellow All-Star all point in the same direction. The award, though, is not distributed until the final buzzer sounds on the regular season.