2026 NBA Awards Finalists To Be Announced Sunday Evening
Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is among the players who will feature prominently in tonight's announcement.
www.hoopsrumors.comThe NBA has already started the 2025-26 awards rollout, and the next few announcements are scheduled for April 21-24, 2026. The biggest open dates, like MVP, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, and the All-NBA teams, have not yet been locked in publicly and are expected later in April or in May.[1][6][10]
Announced dates
- April 20: Defensive Player of the Year, already announced as Victor Wembanyama.[1]
- April 21: Clutch Player of the Year.[10][1]
- April 22: Sixth Man of the Year.[10][1]
- April 23: Sportsmanship Award.[1]
- April 24: Most Improved Player.[1]
Still pending
- MVP has no official announcement date yet, but recent reporting suggests it will likely land in late May, based on past timing.[8][1]
- Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year also have not been dated publicly yet, and are expected sometime in the next couple of weeks to around early May.[8][1]
- The NBA’s official key-dates page confirms the April rollout but does not list a fixed date yet for the remaining major awards.[10]
What this means
The league is spacing awards out during the playoffs, with one reveal per day for the first wave. That makes the next clear watchpoints April 21 through April 24, then likely additional announcements in late April and May.[6][1]