At this point, with 17 gold medals during their 20 Olympic appearances, no one doubts that the United States is the king of basketball. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that stars from other parts of the world are emerging, challenging the individual talent of United States players in the NBA… to the point that, for the seventh consecutive year, no player born in the United States will win the MVP of the season.

Seven years without an NBA MVP born in the United States

Last night, among other numerous awards, the NBA presented its list of three candidates to win the Most Valuable Player award for the regular season: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks). A decision that has once again highlighted the lack of star players from the United States to present their candidacy for the MVP of the season.

Right now, the odds show that the favorite to win the award is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander… and it’s no surprise. The point guard from the Oklahoma City Thunder has been the leader of the team with the best record of wins (68) this season. To put it into perspective, they have set the highest number of regular-season wins in NBA history since the Warriors' 73 wins in 2019, and they’ve also set a new record for Oklahoma wins. This seemed unthinkable since the disbandment of the ‘Big Three’ formed by Durant, Westbrook, and Harden.

Harden is the last American to win the NBA MVP

It was James Harden who was the last American player to win the MVP of the season in the NBA. It was in 2018 when he was still playing for the Houston Rockets. Since then, all the awards have gone to foreign players. Giannis Antetokounmpo won it twice in a row (2019 and 2020), Jokic did the same in the next two seasons (2021 and 2022), and then he repeated in 2024… just one year after Embiid won the award (2023).

To be fair, this award only reflects individual performance… while the United States continues to dominate the world of basketball on a global level. The gold medals in the Olympics reflect that. But it is clear that the United States is starting to have a problem when it comes to generating superstars, as, until Harden's last MVP in 2018, only three foreign players had won the award: Hakeem Olajuwon (who later became a naturalized citizen), Steve Nash (Canada), and Dirk Nowitzki (Germany).