The unofficial first quarter of the season is officially in the books! Through the first seven weeks of the season, we’ve seen teams separate themselves as dominant, others separate themselves as sad, and plenty of epic games and performances.

Consider the stage set for what promises to be an entertaining and unexpected NBA season. Here, I’ll do my best to topline the league’s top performers with some first-quarter awards. We’ll pin the two current favorites against each other and hand out some (theoretical) hardware for the most valuable player, top defender, most improved, sixth man, coach and the top team. Let’s jump in.

Most Valuable Player of the Quarter: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Nikola Jokic

When I first started writing this column, I instinctively wrote Nikola Jokic in this spot. Then I had to double-take. I went back and forth between Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP – and I probably will until the end of the season. 

It’s a shame, because just like last season, both Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander are more than deserving of MVP, and not by the skin of their chompers. Had either Jokic or SGA (the eventual winner) taken home the MVP trophy, the winner’s season would have gone down as one of the all-time great MVP seasons. We’re being asked to put history into context while it’s happening, folks. It’s like being asked if “Thriller” is the greatest album of all time after hearing “The Girl Is Mine” on first listen. Who’s to say?!

We have another classic MVP race brewing. 

Gilgeous-Alexander is putting together the single greatest scoring season for a guard ever. That’s right, better than any single regular season that Michael Jordan, Steph Curry or Smush Parker ever put together. Nobody has ever scored as many points with as high a True Shooting percentage as SGA has right now. He’s a pillar of scoring and efficiency. He doesn’t turn the ball over. He gets to the line. He scores oodles of points. 

Here’s how SGA’s 2025-26 season would stack up with the best seasons of some of the greatest guards of all time.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2025-26): 32.5 PPG / 6.6 AST / 1.8 TOV / 67.4 TS%

Michael Jordan (1988-89): 32.5 PPG / 8.0 AST / 3.6 TOV / 61.4 TS%

Stephen Curry (2020-21): 32 PPG / 5.8 AST / 3.4 TOV / 65.5 TS%

James Harden (2019-20): 34.3 PPG / 7.5 AST / 4.5 TOV / 62.6 TS%

Kobe Bryant (2005-06): 35.4 PPG / 4.5 AST / 3.1 TOV / 55.9 TS%

SGA is tops in EPM, and the Thunder are better with him on the floor than the Nuggets are with Jokic on the floor.

Meanwhile, Jokic is putting together one of the single greatest seasons by a center ever.

This isn’t a case of the nerd stats. Just look at his averages: 29 points, 12.8 rebounds and 11.1 assists per game on 62.1% shooting (43.8% on 3s). No center has ever scored as many points while shooting above 60% from the floor. Jokic has surpassed Shaq-level efficiency as a scorer while averaging a triple-double.

Here’s how Jokic’s 2025-26 season would stack up with the best seasons of some of the greatest centers of all time.

Nikola Jokic (2025-26): 29 PPG / 12.8 REB / 11.1 AST / 62.1 FG% / 72.8 TS%

Shaquille O’Neal (1993-94): 29.3 PPG / 13.2 REB / 2.4 AST / 59.9 FG% / 60.5 TS%

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1970-71): 31.7 PPG / 16 REB / 3.3 AST / 57.7 FG% / 60.6 TS%

The Nuggets lost to the Mavericks last night as they continue to play without two starters. They are 14-6 because of Jokic. I hesitate to think what they would be without the big loaf. The Nuggets are outscoring opponents by 19.4 points per 100 possessions with Jokic on the floor. 

There’s no wrong answer here, but, in the end, I went with Gilgeous-Alexander. Partly because of his importance to the best team in basketball, but also to take a stand on what we consider valuable.

Yes, Jokic makes everyone around him better. That’s what we typically associate with “valuable.” There’s also value in giving a guy the rock and telling him to handle the offense so that everyone else can focus on doing everything else. SGA handles scoring the points. Everyone else handles putting together one of the greatest defenses we’ve ever seen. I don’t think the Thunder would be this good defensively if Gilgeous-Alexander weren’t shouldering the offense.

Defensive Player of the Quarter: Victor Wembanyama vs. Bam Adebayo

Wembanyama has played only 12 games this season, putting him at risk of missing the 65-game limit and becoming ineligible to win Defensive Player of the Year. But it’s my made-up awards column, so typical NBA rules don’t apply here! There’s zero doubt that Wembanyama has been the most impactful defender in the league this season, despite his limited playing time.

Michael Pina at The Ringer had this stat for his awards column, and I’m stealing it for mine: “Even though 142 players have played more minutes this season, zero had blocked more shots before this weekend.”

Wembanyama ranks first in ESPN’s defensive net points metric, third in Estimated Plus-Minus despite not playing in as many games as the guys in first and second, and first in Defensive xRAPM. 

He also leads the NBA in Steps Heard. Players routinely bail on layups when they so much as suspect that Wembanyama is near them. It creates some embarrassing moments and illustrates Wembanyama’s menacing impact. There is no more feared player on this end of the court in the league.

Bam Adebayo deserves recognition here. Each is the backbone of a top-four defense. After a somewhat down season (for him), Adebayo is back to wrecking opposing offenses. Adebayo takes away what teams want to do, like an angry parent taking away a kid’s favorite toy when they’re grounded. If Wembanyama doesn’t qualify for this official award by the end of the season, look out for Adebayo to win his first career – and long overdue – DPOY.

Most Improved Player of the Quarter: Jalen Duren vs Deni Avdija

This is one of my favorite categories this season – so much so that I did a whole episode on it for RealGM Radio with Basketball Poetry’s Michael Shearer. That’s because there are a ton of good candidates for Most Improved this season. But for the sake of this column, I narrowed my choices down to Detroit’s Jalen Duren and Portland’s Deni Avdija. 

Everyone in the most improved category is here at least partly because they’ve made statistical leaps, so I’ll spare you the numbers for now. Suffice to say that both Duren and Avdija are scoring more and will be candidates to make their first All-Star teams this season.

But let’s talk about the spirit of this award. For me, it’s meant to celebrate the player who has transformed a part of his game and has become not only a better player, but a different player. 

In other words, I don’t like giving this award to players making the star leap, or top draft choices who predictably got better. (It’s why preseason MIP favorite Amen Thompson was never my personal favorite for this award. We all knew Thompson was going to be really good.) 

Which brings me to Duren. Yes, Duren is a lottery pick who has gotten better each season. He’s always been a sturdy rebounder and reliable finisher, but he’s putting everything together now and has emerged as a true pick-and-roll partner to Cade Cunningham. Duren has gone from producing 1.2 points per possession as a roll man to 1.43 points this season, per Synergy. He’s using his strength to get to the basket and isn’t afraid to shoot over a smaller defender when he gets two feet in the paint. (He’s dabbled with a hook shot. There’s room to improve, but I’m keeping an eye on it.)

But Duren’s most dramatic improvement is on the defensive end. Durent used to be limited to defending other bigs and providing occasional rim deterrence. Now, he’s switching onto the perimeter more and doing it effectively. Ball handlers in the pick-and-roll have gone from scoring .97 points per possession when defended by Duren to just .77 points per possession, per Synergy.

Detroit’s ensemble defense was impressive last season, but Duren has become the anchor. The Pistons remain a top defense with Duren on the floor without Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Stewart – an important development for him and coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s rotations.

Avdija gets dinged for starting his climb before this season. He was showing this level of production at the end of last season and during EuroBasket. That he’s averaging nearly 26, 7 and 6 right now is impressive, but not all that surprising to those who were paying attention.

Sixth Man of the Quarter: Jaime Jaquez Jr. vs Reed Sheppard

Most sportsbooks have Jaime Jaquez Jr. as the heavy favorite to win Sixth Man of the Year, and it’s easy to see why. He’s been among the most productive offensive players for a revitalized Miami Heat offense. In many ways, he’s become the avatar for Erik Spoelstra’s new scheme that devalues ball screens and calls for more quick isolation and drives to the basket.

Jaquez is right at home in this new offense, and his bounce-back is as big a reason as any for the Heat’s surprising start.

He’s made the eighth-most layups in the league this season, and only Gilgeous-Alexander, Jaylen Brown and Giannis Antetokounmpo have made as many on a higher percentage. 

Few players have taken more advantage of the officials’ emphasis on straight-line pathways than Jaquez. Heat play-by-play man has taken to calling his driving lane the “Jaime Highway,” and you can see why. In the halfcourt, few players have his combination of herky-jerky dribble moves and strength.

After a rough start to the season, Reed Sheppard has been great for the Rockets and could make a push for this award with more time. But right now, it’s Jaquez’s to lose.

Coach of the Quarter: Erik Spoelstra vs Darko Rajakovic 

We’ve already covered Spoelstra’s revamped offensive scheme, and it’s a big reason why he’s considered a candidate for Coach of the Year. More importantly, though, he’s getting results. The Heat are 14-7 despite playing the league’s third-toughest schedule so far this season. And they’ve done it with Tyler Herro missing the first 17 games of the season and Bam Adebayo and Norm Powell missing time, too.

And while Spoelstra has overhauled his offense, he’s managed to maintain his defensive identity. The Heat are fourth in defensive rating this season – rare air for a team that also leads the league in pace. As NBA.com’s John Schuhmann noted recently, fast pace and great defense don’t usually come in the same package.

“Over the previous 29 seasons for which we have play-by-play data, only 14 (9.7%) of the 145 teams that have ranked in the top five in pace have also ranked in the top five on defense. (More than twice as many have ranked in the bottom five defensively.) That’s less than one every two years, though the Thunder have done it in each of the last two seasons.”

Toronto’s Rajakovic has done great work to maximize a mismatched Raptors roster. They are playing fast and unselfishly, defending well and generating quality looks. Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault, Houston’s Ime Udoka, Boston’s Joe Mazzulla and Detroit’s Bickerstaff all deserve some love, too. But Spoelstra is doing something few coaches can and/or are willing to do – change.

Team of the Quarter: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets

I had to throw another team in the mix to keep with our Versus theme, but it’s obviously the Thunder.

The defending champs are even better than last season, when they led the league in record and net rating. They’re doing it again – this time at 20-1 and with a new rating of plus-15.2 – 2.4 points per 100 possessions better than a year ago, when they had the second-highest mark since the merger behind only the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. If this holds, they’ll own the top mark.

They are also just the fourth team ever to start a season with 20 wins in their first 21 games, joining the 2016 Warriors, the 1994 Rockets, and the 1970 Knicks. Those teams were an ill-placed Draymond Green fist away from going undefeated in the Finals.

Oh, and the Thunder have done most of their work without their second-best player, Jalen Williams. Williams recently returned from offseason wrist surgery and made an immediate impact. Even though his shot isn’t falling yet, he’s sharpened OKC’s buzzsaw defense and added another source of playmaking outside of Gilgeous-Alexander. Now, Isaiah Hartenstein will miss a couple of weeks with a calf strain, but something tells me they’ll be fine.

Emmy for Most Entertaining Player of the Quarter: Cade Cunningham

The Pistons are the feel-good team of the quarter, and Cunningham is the reason why they are at the top of the Eastern Conference. Don’t be surprised if he ends up getting plenty of fifth-place MVP votes (a quietly fascinating race starting to take shape). 

This is not a stat-based award, but there are some numbers to back up Cunningham’s entertainment factor. Among star players, only Tyrese Maxey has played in more clutch games this season, and Cunningham is second in clutch points scored behind only Gilgeous-Alexander. He’s also thrown the fourth-most passes this season, emerging as the heliocentric hub of Detroit’s offense.

But to win an Emmy, you need a certain star factor. Well, Cunningham has that, too. We’re witnessing a player gain full command of his powers and have fun doing it. He’s snarling more and talking trash. He’ll find an excuse to dunk on you just because he can. He’s entered a higher plane of awareness – the showman plane. It’s one thing to be productive. It’s another to be productive and put on a show. So far, few shows have been more entertaining than the one in Detroit, and Cunningham is the ring leader.