The NBA’s 2025-26 awards were fully revealed after the Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla on Tuesday became the youngest Coach of the Year winner in over 50 years.

Two California Post sports staffers, NBA reporter Melissa Rohlin and Lakers reporter Khobi Price, had two of the 100 ballots that determined the voting for every award — from MVP (Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) and Coach of the Year to All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year (Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama).

Here are insights into their voting process:

1.) What factored into your MVP vote and how did you feel about Luka Doncic’s fourth-place finish?

Price: With respect for transparency, it’s important to note I had Doncic third on my MVP ballot. So his fourth-place finish is more than fair. Gilgeous-Alexander was once again the best player on the league’s best team and had a historic season in his own right when factoring in his productivity, efficiency and ability to lead the Thunder to a league-best 64-win season. He was the clear-cut season-long MVP, evident by him receiving 83 first-place votes. It’s nitpicking when deciding between Doncic, Wembanyama and Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic for spots Nos. 2-4. Wembanyama has an argument for the league’s most impactful two-way player per minute. But the gap between his total minutes played (1,866) compared to Doncic (2,289) and Jokic (2,265), and offensive impact/workload favored Doncic and Jokic even with respect to Wembanyama’s defensive dominance. It was splitting hairs when deciding between Doncic and Jokic for second place, but Jokic’s historic production, efficiency and early-season dominance (he was the MVP favorite before getting injured in late December) gave him the slight edge. 

Rohlin: There was a very strong field, and this was a hard decision. Doncic had a phenomenal season, and his stats were eye-popping, including his unbelievable March in which he averaged 37.5 points and led the Lakers to a 15-2 record. But Shai GIlgeous-Alexander was the best player on the league’s best team, Victor Wembanyama was an absolute force on both ends of the court and Nikola Jokic put up video game numbers. While Doncic had a great season, I think his fourth-place finish was fair. The Lakers had an up-and-down season before their surge in the spring, and the competition for this award was incredibly deep. 

2.) Why wasn’t JJ Redick on your Coach of the Year ballot?

Price: Similar to Doncic, it came down to a very competitive field. Redick is clearly already among the upper echelon of coaches. Leading the Lakers to a 53-win season despite Doncic (18 games), LeBron James (22) and Austin Reaves (31) missing a combined 71 games and the role player overhaul made Redick a worthy candidate for votes. But as noted in my story in the aftermath of the voting results being revealed, oftentimes Coach of the Year voting comes down to which team overachieved the most. And Mazzulla’s Celtics, J.B. Bickerstaff’s Pistons and Mitch Johnson’s Spurs were the biggest overachievers of the season. And that’s before getting into Charles Lee’s Hornets and Jordan Ott’s Suns. But it’s clear Redick is on the path to being a great coach, if not already one, who should receive consideration moving forward. 

Rohlin: This was another tough one. Redick cemented himself as a great coach this season. He got the Big Three of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James to buy into their roles, including getting James, who’s arguably the greatest player of all time, to embrace being the team’s third offensive option. And then after Doncic and Reaves suffered injuries April 2, he convinced a Lakers team that everyone counted out to believe in themselves, which led to them shocking the basketball world by winning their first-round series against the Rockets. Redick deserves a lot of kudos, but the Celtics, Pistons and Spurs also greatly outperformed their expectations. The Celtics had the second-best record in the Eastern Conference despite Jayson Tatum missing 66 games. The Pistons went from missing the playoffs last season to finishing with the East’s top record. And the Spurs finished with the second-best record in the league, becoming a real powerhouse faster than anyone anticipated. I had Joe Mazzulla at the top of my ballot, followed by J.B. Bickerstaff and Mitch Johnson. But that doesn’t take anything away from Redick’s season. 

3.) Were there any Lakers who you felt should’ve been better represented in the voting for any awards besides MVP and Coach of the Year? 

Price: Not really when factoring in the missed time between Reaves and James. It’s less about punishing players for injuries, but more so acknowledging the natural season-long impact suppression compared to some of their peers. 

Rohlin: LeBron James’ streak of 21 straight All-NBA selections was broken this year because of the 65-game rule. That was a bummer. At age 41, he once again defied Father Time in his historic 23rd season. He averaged 20.9 points on 51.5% shooting, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists, and it’s a shame he wasn’t able to be honored for his incredible performance. 

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4.) What was the most challenging award to vote for and why? 

Price: The All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defense teams are always difficult, especially when it comes to the final spots for each team. But Rookie of the Year gave me the most fits this year. I voted for Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg, but I went back and forth between him and Hornets wing Kon Knueppel until the end of the regular season. Knueppel had a compelling case because of his historic combination of 3-point shooting, efficiency and impact on a Hornets team that won 44 games and made the play-in tournament. But Flagg got the edge because of his production, workload and overall impact even if it resulted in a 26-win season for the Mavericks. 

Rohlin: Definitely MVP. I understand the frustration that has been widely shared by players that the bar for this award keeps moving. Sometimes the player with the best stats wins this award. Sometimes it goes to the player who led his team to the best record. In some seasons, defense is a big factor. Others it’s not. None of it is fair, per se. This season, with two-way stars Gilgeous-Alexander and Wembanyama on the ballot, defense was a big factor, which hurt Doncic and Jokic. It’s hard to weigh everything in a fair manner and decide what to give weight to when there are no distinct rules or descriptions for this award. Doncic led the league in scoring (33.5 points), was third in assists (8.3) and sixth in steals (1.6). In another season, those numbers could’ve won him the award. But this season, it earned him a fourth-place finish. 

5.) Now that it’s been a few seasons, how do you feel about the 65-game threshold for most major awards?

Price: It’s a step in the right direction, but it needs to be modified. Fifty-eight, or 70% of an 82-game season, is the number of games required to qualify for several statistical league leaders. That should also be the case for the major awards. I never understood why there were different qualifiers. Also add in a minutes-played requirement (1,624, which is equivalent to 28 minutes per game, or 1,740, which is equivalent to 30 minutes per game) for players who may miss the 58-game mark but carried significant workloads for their teams in the games they did play. 

Rohlin: Scrap it. Too many players were disqualified for awards because of legitimate injuries. This rule was meant to prevent load management and encourage player participation, but instead it’s punishing players for things they can’t control and encouraging them to put their bodies at risk to meet an arbitrary eligibility cut-off.