For the NBA’s biggest award, it’s better late than never.
On Wednesday, the league will announce the MVP from a trio of finalists: Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, and the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo. It will be the seventh consecutive year with an international winner, as James Harden was the last American MVP in 2018.
The NBA doesn’t name the winner immediately after the regular season and has never chosen a set date for the winner, who is chosen by the media. The reveal is typically right in the middle of the playoffs while the player is chasing a championship.
It can make for heartfelt moments, such as Joel Embiid’s 2023 win, which was highlighted by [his son running into his arms mid-speech](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcp7J_7YBek&pp=ygUTam9lbCBlbWJpaWQgbXZwIHNvbg%3D%3D). It can also produce some awkwardness, with Jokic winning his third in four years a season ago during the Western Conference semifinals as the Nuggets were getting upset by the Timberwolves.
Here are the past four dates for the MVP announcement dating back to 2022, which marked the first regular season since the COVID-19 pandemic.
**2022:** May 11
**2023:** May 2
**2024:** May 8
**2025:** May 21
Unless the winner is Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 31 points Tuesday night in a blowout Western Conference finals Game 1 win, there may be more clumsiness. Jokic and the Nuggets were just eliminated by the Thunder in seven games, and Antetokounmpo’s [future with the Bucks has never been more uncertain](https://frontofficesports.com/giannis-antetokounmpo-open-minded-to-leaving-bucks-report/), as the team appears unlikely to be able to build a contender around him.