Injured OKC guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander maintains his place at the top, even as Nikola Jokić is heating up.
Just by chance, the 2026 All-Star Game will be held Sunday at Intuit Dome, home of the LA Clippers and, more tellingly, home to perhaps the best all-around player in the league right now.
Is that a bit too rich? Well, consider that Kawhi Leonard has sizzled before losing his two best teammates — and, more impressively, after losing them. That’s a loud statement by a player known for being quiet and low-key.
Leonard enters the Kia Race to the MVP on a hot streak, capped most recently by a fourth-quarter takeover against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Leonard was amazing down the stretch against a defense that concentrated exclusively on him. He torched Houston with superb shot-making, scoring 19 points in that period, including the game-winner in the final second.
He’s healthy — finally — and no longer handcuffed to a minutes restriction. We haven’t seen Leonard this good over this long a stretch in … well, a long time. In these spotty stretches of good health, Leonard has shown he’s a rare talent and belongs in the upper class of stars.
“With the minutes restriction off, being able to play 38 to 40 minutes every night, that really gives us a real chance every single night offensively,” said Clippers coach Ty Lue. “And then defensively, we know what he can do as well.”
Leonard averaged 29.8 ppg in December, 27.5 ppg in January, and 28.9 ppg in February. In that game against the Rockets, he also had 12 rebounds and four steals.
The Clippers traded James Harden 10 days ago and Ivica Zubac last Thursday. Yet, the Clippers won three out of four games since, thanks to Leonard’s frequent eruptions. He went for 31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists against the Kings, then 41-8-2 against Minnesota, then 51-20-7 in a pair against Houston in those four games.
He now has no All-Star teammates (except Sunday in the All-Star Game), while John Collins, the Clippers’ second-leading scorer, averages less than 14 ppg. Plus, the remade Clippers are playing in the rugged West, which means their schedule is unforgiving most nights.
They’re still under .500 for the season and fighting to remain in the SoFi Play-In Tournament chase. That means Leonard won’t win MVP and he’ll be lucky to make the playoffs and/or finish with a winning record this season.
But for now, he’s good enough for the MVP Ladder, checking in at 10.
Setting the stage this week: The league now goes dark for almost a week. When it resumes following the break, the spotlight will be on a pair of Ladder guards — Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson — when the Detroit Pistons play the New York Knicks. Cade and Co. are 2-0 in head-to-head but will play without Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, both serving suspensions for this one. Cunningham will need one of his better performances to make it 3-0. Brunson is the only NBA player with multiple 40-point games this month.
The stat to know: To give another example of this dominant recent run by Leonard, he has scored 20 or more points in 33 straight games. He also leads all players in total points this month, averaging 30 points per game in February.
What they are saying: “Yeah, I mean, that’s Kawhi. When the game’s on the line you know where the ball’s going, and he brought us home tonight … down the stretch it tells you what kind of player he is.” — Clippers coach Ty Lue on Leonard’s finish against the Rockets.
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Last week’s ranking: No. 1 ↔️
Season stats: 31.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists
His case: The good news is he’s still No. 2 in scoring and shooting efficiently and the unquestioned leader of the top seed in the West, doing it often without key pieces (Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, etc.) along the way.
But now Gilgeous-Alexander is one of those missing pieces, out the last five games with an abdominal injury. He’ll be re-examined after the break and expected back when the season resumes; when he does return, the MVP race will likely be a lot tighter, if only because the competition is healing up and heating up.
2. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
Last week’s ranking: No. 3 ⬆️
Season stats: 28.7 points, 12.3 rebounds, 10.7 assists
His case: A few MVP candidates took advantage when he missed nearly a month with an injury. Now, Jokić is returning the favor with Gilgeous-Alexander and Dončić dealing with injury absences. Before his injury, Jokić led the Ladder by a considerable margin.
He and the Nuggets haven’t been as sharp since he returned, though. Jokić is misfiring on 3-pointers and a step slow defensively as he tries to regain his timing. Still, the recent schedule was challenging (Pistons, OKC, Knicks, Cleveland). Jokić’s chances of returning to No. 1 will depend on Denver winning regularly, which the Nuggets are fully capable of doing once Aaron Gordon returns.
3. Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers
Last week’s ranking: No. 2 ⬇️
Season stats: 32.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists
His case: The league’s scoring leader is enjoying his best season all around and at times is dominant, no matter who he’s matching up against. Dončić has had MVP chances before, but this is, from all indications, his strongest effort yet.
That said, he has missed four straight games with a bad hamstring. When inactivity happens this late in the season and against a strong MVP field, it can be costly. Dončić remains top three on the Ladder and should return to the lineup next week when the Lakers play the Clippers and Leonard.
4. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
Last week’s ranking: No. 4 ↔️
Season stats: 25.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 9.6 assists
His case: Cunningham and the Pistons continued their stronghold on the East with a pair of impressive victories of late. He had 33-9-7 to cool the surging Charlotte Hornets, then 28-7-9 to fend off the Toronto Raptors (the latter happening while Detroit was shorthanded due to a few teammates’ suspensions).
And now? The Pistons enter the All-Star break virtually even with Oklahoma City, a team that a few months ago was running laps around the league. Therefore, not only does Cunningham (No. 2 in assists) have the performances to back up his candidacy, he’s also the best player on one of the best teams.
5. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
Last week’s ranking: No. 5 ↔️
Season stats: 24.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.6 blocks
His case: He’s among the top performers in February, averaging 26.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks this month. Overall, he’s averaging less than 30 minutes per game in 2025-26, which makes him perhaps the most productive player, per minute, in the NBA.
When Wembanyama dropped 40 points last week against the Lakers (in 26 minutes!), it was for the second time this season and sixth 40-piece of his career — one more than Tim Duncan managed. Oh, yeah: Wembanyama has played 1,235 fewer games than Duncan.
The next 5:
6. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics ↔️
7. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers ↔️
8. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves ↔️
9. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks ↔️
10. Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers ⬆️
And five more (listed alphabetically): Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors; Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets; Jalen Johnson, Atlanta Hawks; Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers; Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets.
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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at spowell@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.
