Analysis: For the past 7 years, MVPs have been international players. Will Edwards end the MVP drought of American players?

Who will become the next MVP of Team USA? Anthony Edwards seems to be the obvious answer, but LeBron James and Stephen Curry should not be ignored either.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is the league MVP for 2019 and 2020. Nikola Jokic won the award in 2021, 2022 and 2024, respectively, and Joel Embiid won the award in 2023. Now we can also put Shea Gilgers-Alexander on the roster as he was named the NBA MVP for the 2024-25 season.

The above are the seven most recent NBA MVP winners, and they all have one thing in common: they are all international players.

NBA not only has a large number of talents in the league itself, but also the global influence of basketball has also been significantly improved. Many countries around the world have sent top basketball players to the United States, and competition outside the United States has also intensified sharply.

If you need to remind this, just look back at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, when the US, led by LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, was twice pushed to the limit by Serbia and France. The NBA has greatly influenced basketball in Europe, Africa and Asia over the past decade, paving the way for the league to recognize that some of the world’s best players are from outside the United States.

If you want to find the last NBA MVP born in the United States, you have to go back to the 2017-18 season when James Harden won the award with the Houston Rockets. Before him, Russell Westbrook, Derek Ross, Kobe Bryant, and these three future Hall of Fame players led the United States to win gold medals at the Olympics, setting a record for the MVP awards won by American players for 11 consecutive years. Will this latest international record be broken in the near future?

After all, more and more high-level international players who have been playing professional games since their teenage years are entering the NBA. The top three of the MVP votes this year - Giannis, Jokic and SGA - still have plenty of golden years and they won't leave in the near term.

Even so, there are still several US-born MVP competitors in the NBA. While some may still think those basketball legends may end international records, Anthony Edwards is clearly the next spokesperson for American basketball and the next NBA All-Star to win the MVP award.

Anthony Edwards is undoubtedly the best candidate for the MVP of the American Men's Basketball Team... right?

Anthony Edwards is undoubtedly the best candidate for the next American-born NBA MVP.

The 23-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves guard has led the team to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive season, and he has the ability to become the spokesperson for the American men's basketball team as the older generation retires.

After all, he played a major role in the battle for gold medals in Paris, along with LeBron, Curry and Durant—in that period, the legends recognized his greatness.

However, Edwards is focused on his NBA journey as a young star. He is eager for victory and is not worried that the label of "Best American Player" will always be with him.

"(known as the best American player) is not my pursuit. I just want to win with the Minnesota Timberwolves. I don't care about anything else," Edwards said in an interview with Yahoo Sports last summer. "It's great to have such an opportunity. I didn't pursue it deliberately, I just relax. If so, come on. I just want to win with the Minnesota Timberwolves."

This season, Edwards averaged 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals, shooting 44.7% from the field and 39.5% from three-pointers. For the first time in his career, he led the league in three-point shooting numbers and ranked fourth in the scoring list, behind only three players who ended up in the NBA MVP.

Of course, there are also many people who compare Edwards to Michael Jordan as a young man who made the Chicago Bulls the NBA best team. Edwards has begun to show this strength while playing for the Timberwolves over the past few seasons, and the 2025 championship will undoubtedly cement his position as the future leader of American basketball.

As the best candidate for the next American-born MVP, Edwards still has a long way to go. Giannis and Jokic will remain NBA All-Squad for at least the next decade, and Edwards will also meet Victor Victor Vibaniama in the Western Conference for the rest of his career.

Ultimately, given the huge amount of talent in the West, victory or defeat will become a key factor in the MVP battle, which is why the Timberwolves and Edwards currently have the advantage. The Minnesota Timberwolves have won 105 games in the past two seasons, ranking fifth in the league. If it can reach the top of the league and may surpass Gilgers Alexander and the Thunder, Edwards' MVP resume will be even more brilliant.

At some stage of his career, Edwards is likely to win the MVP trophy. But is this enough to break the international record? Apart from Edwards, we cannot ignore two still great players, James and Curry. Where are the veterans of Team

?

LeBron James is already 40 years old. Stephen Curry just turned 37 in March this year. These two players set a benchmark for this generation of NBA players. Their annual showdown in the NBA Finals not only opens up new directions for the formation of the team's lineup, but also opens up new ways for young players to shape the game style.

Although the careers of two greatest players in history, James and Curry, are about to come to an end, they are still one of the best players in the league today.

In 70 games this season, LeBron averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game, shooting as high as 51.3% from the field and 37.6% from three-point shooting percentage. As James still leads the Los Angeles Lakers and ends up with a third in the West, he is expected to be nominated for the MVP this season.

Now that James is partnering with Luca Doncic, the Lakers' overall potential has been improved, which means he still has the opportunity to compete for the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award. As long as James is still in the league and can win data that is close to a triple-double, he will become the focus of this competition. What's more, it must be what he thought about handing over the MVP trophy back to the hands of an American.

At this stage of his career, Curry may have a better chance of winning the MVP trophy again than James. The 37-year-old defender continues to take his performance to new heights and he still has a long way to go if he wants to continue his career with the Golden State Warriors.

After trading Jimmy Butler, the Warriors achieved the third best record in the NBA in the second half of the season and had a chance to reach the Western Conference semi-finals. In the end, the Warriors lost to Edwards and the Timberwolves, and Curry had to watch the game on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury.

Butler's arrival and the Warriors' recovery are no joke, because this team has proven that they can become elite again. If the Warriors rank in the top four in the Western Conference in the regular season, Curry will definitely be the focus of the MVP competition. He is the greatest scorer in basketball history, and the MVP moments he created on the court are unmatched, even Gilgers Alexander, Jokic and Antetokounmpo are hard to reach.

Only one player in NBA history has been elected as a league MVP unanimously, that is Stephen Curry, and he is still able to play MVP-level data throughout the regular season.

Other young American players are highly favored by MVP

In addition to Edwards, there are several young players in the NBA who are expected to become popular candidates for American-born MVPs.

While Jason Tatum will recover from a tear in the Achilles tendon for most of the 2025-26 season, he is the most dazzling star after Edwards. The Boston Celtics won the 2024 NBA championship, and this team always seems to be at the top of the Eastern Conference.

What many people often forget is that Tatum is only 27 years old and has not reached the peak of his career. Tatum's Achilles tendon injury is worrying and affects his subsequent development, but Tatum will rebound strongly and maintain his best form.

This season, Tatum ranked fourth in the NBA MVP competition, second only to Kyrgyz-Alexander, Jokic and Giannis. This is Tatum's fourth consecutive season to enter the top six of the MVP selection. The best player in the league's best teams are often attracting much attention in MVP competitions, which makes Tatum another American-born player worth discussing.

In addition, there are Paul Banchero, Tyreth Halliburton, Donovan Mitchell and Cad Cunningham.

If it weren't for the oblique injury and missed for half a year, Bancero would likely be nominated for MVP this season. The Orlando Magic forward averaged 25.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in his third NBA season and shot 45.2%. The Magic are a rising star in the East, and Bencello is their fearless leader, who has proven himself to be the top 10 scorer in the league.

Halliburton, like Edwards, led the team to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive season. Although some peers consider him the most overrated player in the league, Halliburton has always helped the Indiana Pacers maintain their winning momentum. Haliburton has proven himself to be one of the best shot creators and playmakers in the point guard position when it comes to improving the players around him.

Mitchell and Cunningham are now in two different positions. Cunningham made his first All-Star this season and turned the situation around in Detroit. Mitchell is an experienced star in the league and he still needs to prove himself because he has been having difficulty leading the team to the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

Mitchell's peak is still behind, and the Cleveland Cavaliers have just finished their 64-game winning season. Because of this, Mitchell ranked fifth in the MVP vote this season. Mitchell looks like a strong candidate for MVP this season, and he will be fighting spirited to enter the game next year when the Cavaliers seek revenge.

Which American-born player can compete with all the strong international players in the NBA MVP competition? What about Cooper Flag?

The upcoming No. 2 NBA Draft pick will join the Dallas Mavericks along with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving. Flag is known as a generation of talented players. Before the Olympics last summer, when he represented the elite American basketball team, he opened his eyes to many stars.

Although it is not easy for Flag to be the best player on the Mavericks to play alongside Davis, he has the talent and mentality of a future MVP. However, don't expect the young star to be among the best players immediately as soon as he enters the league. It will take several years for Flag to fully enter the MVP discussion. There are already several US-born MVP candidates in the NBA. However, the roster of international players in the league is still increasing, and those international stars who have won the MVP trophy will not leave.

The MVP drought for American players has been going on for seven years. Looking ahead to the NBA in 2025-26, the MVP record of international players is unlikely to be broken.