NBA MVP Betting Odds 2025

Of all the yearly awards given in the NBA, the NBA MVP Award is the most prestigious honor a player can earn in the regular season.

Just glancing through the list of players who have been named NBA MVP should tell you everything you need to know about this tremendous honor.

Some of the greatest players in NBA history have won this award, and among those greats, some have won it multiple times.

However, the NBA MVP race is no longer something that only matters to players, agents, and coaches.

Now, regular, old-fashioned sports bettors have the opportunity to put down some cash and follow along throughout an 82-game regular season to see if they correctly predicted the outcome and secured a nice profit.

Here, we will cover everything you need to know about the race to become the 2025 NBA MVP and how you can get involved with just a few clicks of a button.

Note: Odds were correct at the time of writing.

How Is The NBA MVP Decided?

The NBA Most Valuable Player award is decided through a voting process conducted by a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters from the United States and Canada.

Votes for MVP are weighted, with first-place votes earning 10 points, second-place votes earning 7 points, third-place votes earning 5 points, fourth-place votes earning 3 points, and fifth-place votes receiving 1 point.

The player with the most total points wins the MVP award, meaning a player could receive more first-place votes but still fall short if they do not accumulate the highest point total.

There have been minor tweaks to the voting process in recent years, the most recent coming in the 2023-24 NBA season, when a player became required to play in at least 65 games to be eligible for major individual awards, including MVP.

Additionally, a player must average 20 minutes per game in those 65 games, with the lone exception being a player who appears in 62 to 64 games but was injured in at least three games where they played 20 or more minutes before getting hurt.

In other words, Joel Embiid will probably never win NBA MVP ever again.

NBA MVP Betting Odds

Now that you have a better understanding of how the voting process works for the NBA MVP award, you’re probably eager to learn about the top candidates for the 2025 NBA MVP.

Here’s a look at the latest odds fresh off the midseason All-Star break.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (-440) at FanDuel – The Favorite

The 2024-25 NBA season will likely be remembered by basketball purists as the year SGA made the leap from being a very good player to a full-fledged superstar.

The centerpiece of the Paul George trade has been the focal point for a Thunder team that boasted the best record in basketball at the midseason All-Star break.

SGA has been downright sensational this season, leading the NBA in scoring with more than 32 points per game while also contributing six assists and five rebounds per night.

Even though he has played six seasons in Oklahoma City, the 26-year-old has yet to reach his full potential. Considering the Thunder own roughly 308 draft picks over the next few years, that is a scary thought in itself.

Barring an injury that puts him under the 65-game minimum required for MVP eligibility, there is only one man who could potentially spoil his MVP coronation.

Nikola Jokić (+350) at DraftKings – The Contender

The one man who could spoil the fun? Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who in any other season would likely be the overwhelming favorite to take home yet another MVP win.

Jokic is averaging just a George Costanza hair under 30 points per game this season (29.8 to be exact), along with more than 12 rebounds and 10 assists per night.

If this pace holds, he would become only the third player in league history to average a triple-double for an entire season.

Like Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic is the key piece for a Nuggets team that is very much a title contender.

If the Thunder stumble in the second half while the Nuggets surge up the Western Conference standings, this race could get very interesting down the stretch.

For now, Gilgeous-Alexander is the clear favorite to win the award, but if you’re looking to jump into the MVP betting market in mid-February, Jokic is by far your best bet.

The Longshots

In the world of sports, you never want to say something is a guarantee unless you’re talking about the Dallas Cowboys face-planting in the playoffs.

But it is all but certain that none of the longshots in this group have a realistic chance of gaining enough ground to give SGA and ‘The Joker’ a serious challenge in the NBA MVP race.

Of this list of five players, Giannis would appear to have the best chance to give MVP voters some pause before casting their final ballot, and that will require a historically good run by a Bucks team that has been mediocre at best for much of the season.

Crazy things happen, and with the added requirement that a player must appear in 65 games to be eligible for the award, you can never rule out an unfortunate injury derailing a favorite’s chances.

It just doesn’t seem very likely to be the case this season.

Player	Team	Betting Odds
Giannis Antetokounmpo	Milwaukee Bucks	+12500
Jayson Tatum	Boston Celtics	+30000
Victor Wembanyama	San Antonio Spurs	+30000
James Harden	Los Angeles Clippers	+40000
Cade Cunningham	Detroit Pistons	+40000

Recent NBA MVP Winners

Year	Player	Team
2023-24	Nikola Jokić	Denver Nuggets
2022-23	Joel Embiid	Philadelphia 76ers
2021-22	Nikola Jokić	Denver Nuggets
2020-21	Nikola Jokić	Denver Nuggets
2019-20	Giannis Antetokounmpo	Milwaukee Bucks
2018-19	Giannis Antetokounmpo	Milwaukee Bucks
2017-18	James Harden	Houston Rockets
2016-17	Russell Westbrook	Oklahoma City Thunder
2015-16	Stephen Curry	Golden State Warriors
2014-15	Stephen Curry	Golden State Warriors

How to Bet on the NBA MVP Award

To bet on who will win the NBA MVP Award just follow this easy step-by-step guide:

1. Go to your preferred sportsbook and log into your account.
2. Select the ‘NBA Odds’ tab option in the betting menu.
3. Go to the ‘Player Futures’ drop-down menu.
4. Click on ‘NBA MVP’.
5. Submit your bet in the bet-slip window.