NBA MVP goes global as international players extend historic eight-year run
The NBA's Most Valuable Player award was almost exclusively an American honour for much of its history. That has changed sharply, with players born outside the United States now winning the league's top individual award for eight consecutive seasons.
Main points
- International players have won eight straight MVPs
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won again in 2026
- The award was once dominated by US players
The NBA's Most Valuable Player award was almost exclusively an American honour for much of its history. That has changed sharply, with players born outside the United States now winning the league's top individual award for eight consecutive seasons.
Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander extended the streak in 2026, winning his second straight MVP after leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a league-best 64-18 record. He averaged 31.1 points per game and became the 14th player in NBA history to win consecutive MVP awards.
His victory followed a run led by some of the league's biggest international stars. Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo won in 2019 and 2020, Serbia's Nikola Jokić in 2021, 2022 and 2024, and Cameroon-born Joel Embiid in 2023. Gilgeous-Alexander followed in 2025 and 2026.
From rare achievement to eight straight wins
International MVPs were once unusual.
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Nigeria-born Hakeem Olajuwon became the first African-born player to win the award in 1994. Canada's Steve Nash won back-to-back MVPs in 2005 and 2006, before Germany's Dirk Nowitzki became the first European winner in 2007.
US-born players then won every season from 2008 through 2018, ending with James Harden. No US-born player has won since.
The NBA says the 2026 result means players born outside the United States have now collected the award 14 times overall, across eight different players. That count includes Tim Duncan, who was born in the US Virgin Islands.
The change is also visible beyond the winners. FIBA reported that more than 85% of MVP voting points from 2021 through 2024 went to players born outside the United States.
In 2026, the top three were again international: Gilgeous-Alexander finished first, followed by Serbia's Jokić and France's Victor Wembanyama. A league with a growing international influence
The MVP streak reflects the NBA's wider international growth. FIBA reported a record-tying 125 international players from 43 countries across six continents on opening-night rosters for the 2024-25 season.
Andscape has linked the rise partly to international development systems that often expose young players to professional club environments, team concepts and multiple roles earlier in their careers. James Harden told Andscape that talent around the world was continuing to improve, describing today's NBA as more global than ever.
The transformation is particularly clear in the past decade. Before 2019, foreign-born MVPs appeared occasionally among long stretches of American winners. Since then, Greece, Serbia, Cameroon and Canada have accounted for every award.
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Gilgeous-Alexander's second consecutive victory means that streak will reach at least eight seasons before the 2026-27 MVP is decided.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
