Check out Cade Cunningham’s best plays this season after he was named a starter for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game in L.A.<\/p>\n
As the NBA season begins to pivot toward All-Star Weekend<\/a> and eventually the final seven weeks of the season, some things have changed and one thing remains the same:\u00a0<\/p>\n International players are dominating the Kia Race to the MVP.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is a timely topic because of the new and revamped All-Star Game format<\/a>, where a team of international players will compete against a pair of American teams. This would not have been possible, say, 10 years ago, simply because there was little to no curiosity or conversation about whether a team of internationals could create drama and suspense, even for a half.\u00a0<\/p>\n But now?\u00a0<\/p>\n James Harden remains the answer to an MVP trivia question: who was the last American-born player to win the award? It happened in 2019<\/a> \u2026 and here we are in 2026. Therefore, given the obvious top-heavy talent among internationals, oh yes, it\u2019s a conversation now, hence the hasty change-up for the All-Star Game.\u00a0<\/p>\n And it\u2019s a World domination so far, and has been all season, among the top five on the current edition of the MVP ladder.\u00a0<\/p>\n Which is to say, barring an insane development, Harden will still be the last American-born MVP winner come this spring, when the award winner is announced.\u00a0<\/p>\n And how about this, too: In a normal season, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo would surely be a top-five candidate as well. Anyway, the World is holding down four of the top five spots on the Ladder, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still leading the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n So let\u2019s pause and salute the internationals with All-Star Weekend fast approaching. Regardless of how Team World fares a week from Sunday, this sport has been enhanced by the greatness of players from France, Slovenia, Serbia and Canada, among other countries. And given that many of the best internationals are just touching their prime, their impact on the game, and the MVP Ladder, could endure.<\/p>\n At least there\u2019s this: Cade Cunningham, born and raised in Dallas, Texas, rises two spots and into the top five.\u00a0<\/p>\n Setting the stage this week: Jalen Brunson makes a top-10 return and now comes the tough part for him and the resurgent New York Knicks\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the games ahead. He\u2019ll get quite the All-Star tuneup with a ladder matchup Friday with Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons, then two nights later against Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics, and then Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers await Wednesday. Will he have enough energy left for the All-Star Game?\u00a0<\/p>\n The stat to know: Not only is Nikola Joki\u0107 trailing only Russell Westbrook in career triple-doubles \u2014 amazing for a center \u2014 but he has six 30-point triples with no turnovers. He pulled the latest trick on Wednesday<\/a> against the Knicks, in double OT no less.\u00a0<\/p>\n What they are saying:\u00a0\u201cThe reality is we have an American-born MVP candidate in Cade Cunningham.\u00a0Number one in the league, leading the league in assists, putting up 27 points a game\u00a0\u2026\u00a0Cade Cunningham is as special of a player as we have in the league today.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Warriors forward Draymond Green.\u00a0<\/p>\n 1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder\u00a0<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking:<\/a> No. 1 \u2194\ufe0f His case: He has ranked either first or second on the MVP Ladder for most of the last 15 months and obviously won the award last season. Gilgeous-Alexander is second in scoring, shooting 55.4% and the centerpiece of the West-leading Thunder. Basically, Shai is still Shai.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, wait: An abdominal strain has him on the shelf<\/a> and he\u2019ll be re-evaluated after the All-Star break. We\u2019ve already seen one player drop a few spots because of injury. And while Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s ache isn\u2019t considered too serious, suppose someone else on the ladder goes nuts between now and then. Might the seat be getting warm for Gilgeous-Alexander?\u00a0<\/p>\n 2. Luka Don\u010di\u0107, Los Angeles Lakers<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking:<\/a>\u00a0No.\u00a02 \u2194\ufe0f His case: The league\u2019s scoring leader has a streak of 19 straight games scoring at least 24 points. He\u2019s averaging 30.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg and 8.2 apg over the last 10 games and remains a tough assignment for even the best defenders.\u00a0<\/p>\n In January, he averaged 34 ppg, 7.2 rpg and 9.1 apg while shooting 50.6%. He failed to score 30 points just four times in 15 games that month. He also leads the Lakers in points, assists and steals, and is second to Deandre Ayton in rebounds. In a nutshell, Don\u010di\u0107 is making a compelling case for winning his first MVP.\u00a0<\/p>\n 3. Nikola Joki\u0107, Denver Nuggets<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking:<\/a>\u00a0No.\u00a03 \u2194\ufe0f His case:\u00a0So much for missing the 65-game limit for award eligibility. It appears that, barring a setback,\u00a0Joki\u0107\u00a0will make a serious bid to remain eligible after missing a month due to a hyperextended knee. He\u2019s not quite on his pre-injury pace\u00a0\u2014\u00a0yet, anyway\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but looks and moves very well here in his return.\u00a0<\/p>\n And even more surprising is this: He lasted 45 minutes (and double OT) against the Knicks the night after playing 33 minutes in Detroit. That\u2019s an impressive showing of stamina for someone coming off injury and it demonstrates two things: The Nuggets have faith in his body and recovery powers, and Joki\u0107\u00a0really, really hates to miss games.\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking:<\/a>\u00a0No.\u00a06 \u2b06\ufe0f His case: Cunningham was tremendous in a win over fellow MVP Ladder candidates Joki\u0107 and Jamal Murray, dropping 29 points and 10 assists last Tuesday against the Nuggets. He also had 29 points and outplayed Steph Curry in the previous game, against the Warriors.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even more impressive is how Cunningham has the Pistons on the verge of overtaking OKC for the league\u2019s best record, especially if the Thunder suffer while Gilgeous-Alexander misses games. That would be a tremendous accomplishment and would only bolster Cunningham\u2019s award candidacy. \u00a0<\/p>\n 5. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking:<\/a>\u00a0No.\u00a04 \u2b07\ufe0f His case: After the Spurs were humbled by the Hornets last week, Wembanyama returned with a wicked performance against Orlando (25 points, five blocks, four steals), impacting the game on both ends of the floor. And while it\u2019s true that OKC was missing Shai last Wednesday, the Spurs and Wembanyama once again spooked the top team in the West, with Wembanyama\u2019s 22 points and 14 rebounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wembanyama is averaging just 29 minutes a night, making his contributions all the more impressive. The rationing of his minutes appears to be a solid strategy for the player and team. The Spurs are still among the better teams in the West and Wembanyama is staying relatively fresh for the long haul.\u00a0<\/p>\n The next 5<\/p>\n 6. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics \u2b07\ufe0f And five more (listed alphabetically): Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors; Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets; Jalen Johnson, Atlanta Hawks; Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers; Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at\u00a0spowell@nba.com<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on\u00a0X<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Check out Cade Cunningham’s best plays this season after he was named a starter for the 2026 NBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[212057,355,99],"class_list":["post-452669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-kia-mvp-ladder-feb-6-2026","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Season stats:<\/a>\u00a031.8\u00a0points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists<\/p>\n
Season stats:<\/a> 32.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists<\/p>\n
Season stats:<\/a>\u00a029.1\u00a0points,\u00a012.1\u00a0rebounds,\u00a010.5 assists<\/p>\n
Season stats:<\/a> 25.4\u00a0points,\u00a05.5\u00a0rebounds,\u00a09.8 assists\u00a0<\/p>\n
Season stats:<\/a> 24.2 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.7 blocks<\/p>\n
7. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers \u2194\ufe0f
8. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves \u2b06\ufe0f
9. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks \u2b06\ufe0f
10. Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers \u2b07\ufe0f<\/p>\n