NBA AWARDS BALLOTS LOCKED.

Awards ballots are locked in across the league. The 65-game rule got challenged and overturned — Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham back on the ballot for every major postseason award. Voters have until Friday at 3pm ET to submit MVP, DPOY, All-NBA, the whole card.

Here’s the HoopWrld ballot. Every vote. Every argument. Every take that’s going to start a fight in your group chat.

The eye test voted. We said what we said.

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MVP: NIKOLA JOKIC

BALLOT: 1. Nikola Jokic · 2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander · 3. Victor Wembanyama · 4. Luka Doncic · 5. Cade Cunningham

Shai got his flowers. Sixty-four wins, the Thunder running the West, another scoring title, Clutch Player numbers nobody’s touched since tracking started. Nobody’s taking that away from him. He’s 1B.

But when we got honest about what “valuable” actually means — the guy whose absence flatlines an entire operation — we kept landing on the big Serbian. Jokic became the first player in NBA history to lead the league in both rebounds and assists per game. That’s not a stat. That’s science fiction. Second consecutive season averaging a triple-double. The Nuggets don’t run through him; they exist because of him.

Shai is the best player on the best team. Jokic is the best player, period. The MVP goes to Denver.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: VICTOR WEMBANYAMA

BALLOT: 1. Victor Wembanyama · 2. Chet Holmgren · 3. Rudy Gobert

No debate. No argument. No disrespect to Chet anchoring the league’s best defense or Rudy being Rudy. Welcome to the Wemby era.

The Spurs outscored opponents by 17 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor. Seventeen. He led the league in blocks, in combined blocks-plus-steals, and in doing things that have never been done on a basketball court. This award belongs to him until further notice.

COACH OF THE YEAR: JOE MAZZULLA

BALLOT: 1. Joe Mazzulla · 2. J.B. Bickerstaff · 3. Mitch Johnson

Boston lost Kristaps Porzingis. Lost Jrue Holiday. Lost Al Horford. Lost Luke Kornet. Lost Jayson Tatum to an Achilles tear for most of the year. Mazzulla took what was left and kept the Celtics in the title conversation the entire season.

That’s not coaching. That’s witchcraft. Bickerstaff has Detroit at the top of the East for the first time in a generation. Mitch Johnson took the Spurs from missing the playoffs to the 2-seed. Both legit. But Mazzulla rebuilt a contender on the fly with Tatum on the sideline. Give him the trophy.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: COOPER FLAGG

BALLOT: 1. Cooper Flagg · 2. Kon Knueppel · 3. VJ Edgecombe

Kon Knueppel led the entire NBA in 3-point shooting as a rookie. As a rookie. That’s wild. It’s still not enough.

Cooper Flagg led his own team in points, rebounds, assists, AND steals — something no rookie has done since Michael Jordan in 1984-85. He dropped the first 50-point game by a teenager in league history and logged the most 40-point games by a teen ever. The kid isn’t just a Rookie of the Year. He’s a top-15 player in the league already.

Knueppel was incredible. Flagg is a franchise. There’s a difference. VJ Edgecombe rounds out the ballot as a Day 1 playoff piece for Philly — Nurse trusts him, teammates love him, easy third spot.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: NICKEIL ALEXANDER-WALKER

BALLOT: 1. Nickeil Alexander-Walker · 2. Jalen Duren · 3. Deni Avdija

Duren became a first-time All-Star. Avdija broke out as Portland’s offensive engine. Both had real seasons. But nobody in the NBA had a bigger year-over-year leap than NAW.

He averaged 11.4 more points per game than last season — the single biggest scoring jump in the league — and here’s the kicker: his shooting percentages went up from the field and from three while his volume exploded. That’s the hardest trick in basketball. Most guys who add usage watch efficiency crater. NAW did the opposite.

Role player to Wolves engine. Bench guard to go-to bucket. That’s the good-to-great leap this award was built for.

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR: AJAY MITCHELL

BALLOT: 1. Ajay Mitchell · 2. Jaime Jaquez Jr. · 3. Jamal Shead

Jaime Jaquez Jr. had a monster year in Miami. Top 10 in total drives, led the league in bench scoring, Spo turned him into a full-on offensive Swiss Army knife in the new uptempo Heat. We see him.

But Ajay Mitchell is the heartbeat of the bench on a 64-win title defender. The Thunder didn’t just survive their rotation — they thrived because Ajay gave them another lead ball-handler who could run an offense when Shai sat. On a championship team with that much rotational pressure, being the sixth man matters. He wins it.

Jamal Shead on Toronto is the out-the-box pick. Led the NBA in assists off the bench, Raptors were 5.4 points per 100 better with him on the floor. Respect the hustle.

CLUTCH PLAYER OF THE YEAR: ANTHONY EDWARDS

BALLOT: 1. Anthony Edwards · 2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander · 3. Cade Cunningham

We know the counter. Shai averaged 6.5 points per clutch game — the most by any player since play-by-play tracking began in ’97-’98. OKC was plus-92 in the clutch. Incredible. Cade had Detroit 21-10 in clutch games and shot 50% from the floor down the stretch.

But Ant shot 56% from the floor in the clutch this year and finished sixth in total clutch points. Sixth. On a Wolves team that needed him to deliver in the final minutes over and over and over. The eye test on Ant with the game on the line? Nobody has more ice in their veins right now.

Shai is winning MVP. Let Ant take this one.

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ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM — LUKA’S NOT ON IT

This is where we lose half of y’all. So let’s get into it.

Jaylen Brown — gap year, my ass. Everybody wanted to write his obituary in November. “He’s not a 1A.” “Celtics will regret the extension.” “He’s just along for the ride.” Then Tatum went down and Brown played the best basketball of his career carrying Boston through an impossible situation. Finals MVP → First Team All-NBA. That’s the arc. That’s the story.

Kawhi Leonard’s second half was unbelievable. We know the durability history. We know the load-management memes. We get it. But when Kawhi is on the floor the way he was over the back half of this season, there are maybe three other humans in basketball operating at that level. If the ballot is the five most impactful players this season — and we count the minutes he actually played — Kawhi is on this team. Period.

Which brings us to the part that’ll blow up group chats:

Luka Doncic is on the Second Team. Cade Cunningham is on the Second Team. And before you type: we love Luka. Led the league in scoring at 33.5 a night. Most 30-point games (28) and 40-point games (14) in the league. He’s a top-five offensive force on the planet. Cade was the engine for the East’s 1-seed.

But All-NBA First Team is a two-way honor. Luka’s defense this year was a revolving door. We’re not rewarding 33.5 points a night on one end while the other end is a highway. Sorry. The ballot is the ballot.

ALL-NBA SECOND TEAM

Luka and Cade drop here and it’s still a hell of a squad. Jamal Murray finally stitched together a regular season that matched his playoff highs — 25 a night on clean efficiency. Tyrese Maxey led the entire NBA in minutes and dragged Philly to the playoffs while Embiid and Paul George were in and out of the lineup. And KD? Still putting up 26 a game and flirting with another 50-40-90 at his age in Houston. Absurd. The man is going to retire with stats that don’t look real.

ALL-NBA THIRD TEAM

The Jalen Team, almost. Chet Holmgren is the anchor of the league’s best defense and a legitimate two-way force — DPOY runner-up for a reason. Duren’s jump made him an All-Star AND carried Detroit while Cade recovered from a collapsed lung. Brunson kept the Knicks humming all year. Donovan Mitchell had Cleveland running.

And then there’s Jalen Johnson. The Hawks forward became the fifth player in NBA history to average 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. The other four? Oscar Robertson. Wilt Chamberlain. Nikola Jokic. Russell Westbrook. That’s Hall of Fame air. On a Hawks team that traded Trae Young mid-season and still stayed in the mix, Jalen put up numbers that belong in a museum.

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ALL-DEFENSE FIRST TEAM

Wemby, Chet, Rudy — pass the plate. Derrick White is the best shot-blocking guard the league has seen since peak Dwyane Wade, and that’s not hyperbole. He had 98 blocks as a 6-4 guard. He also led the NBA in points allowed per direct drive. He’s a unicorn.

Amen Thompson takes the final spot and it’s close with OG Anunoby, but Houston’s entire defensive identity is built around Amen. Point-of-attack menace, can switch 1-through-5, finishes lobs on the other end. He’s the Rockets’ engine on both ends of the floor.

ALL-DEFENSE SECOND TEAM

Both Thompson twins on the All-Defense teams. They both earned it. Ausar led the NBA in steals per game and is already one of the scariest wing defenders alive. Cason Wallace led the entire league in total steals AND deflections, anchoring OKC’s elite defense alongside Chet. Stephon Castle’s on-ball defense in year two is already top-tier. Queta is the reason Boston’s defense survived losing Porzingis and Horford. And OG is the rangy wing eraser the Knicks built their whole defensive identity around.

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ALL-ROOKIE FIRST TEAM

Cooper, Kon, and VJ roll over from the ROY ballot. Derik Queen makes the first team because his offensive touch at his size is genuinely rare — the kind of skill set you can’t teach. The Pelicans finally have something to build around.

Dylan Harper would’ve been in the Rookie of the Year conversation if he’d landed on a team with 30 minutes a night available. The flashes he showed in San Antonio next to Wemby and Castle? That backcourt is going to be a problem for the next decade.

ALL-ROOKIE SECOND TEAM

Ace Bailey started slow but averaged 17+ over the final two-plus months — the light turned on. Cedric Coward held it down in Memphis during their reset. Collin Murray-Boyles played through a thumb injury and still flashed as a long-term defensive running mate for Scottie Barnes in Toronto. Kalkbrenner led all rookies in blocks per game. Raynaud put up 17 and 9 after the All-Star break for a Kings team that needed somebody to step up. Deep class. Real class.

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THE BOTTOM LINE

Awards season is pain. Every year. The 65-game rule got challenged and overturned. The ballots came in hot. Everybody’s got a take.

Jokic over Shai for MVP. Jaylen Brown and Kawhi on the All-NBA First Team. Luka on the Second Team. NAW for Most Improved. Ant in the Clutch.

The eye test voted. The ballot is in. Fight us in the replies.