This Week In Basketball can only say it again: Only one of these three for MVP

I'm testing out a new format with one of my go-to column presentations. Input is welcomed and encouraged

It was roughly two weeks ago that I proclaimed, both on this Substack and in a video essay linked below for Bally Sports Southwest, that only three players were capable of winning this season's Most Valuable Player award:

🏀 Denver's Nikola Jokić.

🏀 Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

🏀 And Dallas' Luka Dončić.

With two weeks left in the regular (and MVP balloting) season, I would submit that A) said breakdown pretty much nailed it and B) this three-candidate race just got impossibly tighter after what we witnessed Sunday.

First Jokić rang up a tidy 26 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists in a Jamal Murray-less home rout of Cleveland. Then Dončić fired in a career-high-tying nine 3-pointers en route to 47 points to lead Dallas to a win at Houston that brought an end to the Rockets’ 11-game winning streak while also enabling the Mavericks to rise to No. 5 in the West and claim an 11-4 record in March after a 1-3 start to the month. And then Gilgeous-Alexander sank a game-winning baseline jumper with less than two seconds remaining to secure a one-point win for Oklahoma City at Madison Square and reclaim the West's No. 1 seed for the Thunder by a half-game over the defending champions from Denver.

I can make a convincing MVP case for all three of these powerhouses, who had a combined zero teammates in the All-Star game in February. The Mavericks' unexpected surge toward 50-win territory — which is now a mere 5-3 finish away for Luka and Co. — has rendered this race even tougher to call.

My best advice to actual voters after casting official MVP ballots myself many, many times in the past: Don’t force yourself to decide today. Let the entire season play out. Season-ending award ballots, just like your taxes, are not due into the office league until April 15.

Who has the MVP lead as of April Fools' Day?

Now that the team success component can't be held against Dončić, as it's been for much of the season, one might say it's a fool's errand to make such a declaration.

PS — As I've mentioned often previously, I loved loved LOVED This Week In Baseball in my youth and have frequently compiled what I referred to as TWIB Notes on this Substack to pay homage to the great Mel Allen and that life-changing show which debuted in 1977. Now I'm trying something new with this file. My goal is to make it more of a roundup every Sunday of what I wrote, said, did, saw and maybe even ate, bought, etc., in a given week … with categories that I suspect will evolve as I get a better handle on what this piece should look like.

Stories of the Week (published here)

Monday: A look at all the worrisome gambling-related headlines that have stacked up throughout the NBA just since our recent interview with Knicks legend and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley in which the Hall of Famer voiced his concerns about the increasing prominence of legalized gambling throughout the league.

Tuesday: An update on the state of the NBA's Baseball Series concept … which revealed another season of (relative) struggle for home teams leaguewide.

Games of the Week (that I attended)

Stunningly none!

With the Mavericks still out of town on a five-game trip spread over 10 nights, I made plans to sneak out to San Antonio on Easter Sunday for Warriors at Spurs to catch one last live glimpse of Monsieur Wembanyama for the season. Then the trip got scuttled when I received an invite to join Dana Larson and Devin Harris in the Bally Sports Southwest studios for pre- and post-game coverage of Mavericks 125, Rockets 107.

I also obviously could have tried to fill the void by attending the Sweet Sixteen games (N.C. State over Marquette; Duke over Houston) in town this week or N.C. State's stunning Elite Eight triumph over the Blue Devils … but you guys already know (#basketballsnob).

Podcasts of the Week (that I co-hosted)

Tuesday with Turner Sports' Chris Haynes:

Saturday with Turner Sports' Chris Haynes:

Radio Show of the Week (that I hosted)

The Saturday Stein Line on 97.1 (FM) The Freak:

PS — And my Radio Guest Spot of the Week with Sportsnet 590 AM in Canada:

Graphic of the Week

Remember how I mentioned above that I worked in the Bally Sports Southwest studios Sunday night on Dallas-at-Houston studio coverage?

Check out this beautiful graphic from Esrael Yohannes, Clark Rowe and the team that we ran on the pregame show … noting that Houston is trying to avoid becoming just the fifth team in NBA history to post a double-digit winning streak and then miss the playoffs.

As the graphic notes, it has only happened twice in the 16-team playoff era that began with the 1983-84 season: Miami (2016-17) and Portland (2007-08) both missed out on a top-eight seed in their respective conferences despite assembling 13-game winning streaks.

The Rockets, after their 11-game winning was halted Sunday night by that home loss to the Mavericks, are two games behind the No. 10 Warriors for a mere spot in the Play-In round of the playoffs with just eight games left on the schedule for both Houston and Golden State.

Tweeted Factoid of the Week

Meal of the Week

It really happened, y’all!

The eagerly, eagerly awaited pita palace known as Miznon Dallas opened Saturday in Deep Ellum, Texas.

The only other U.S. locations: New York and Las Vegas.

Quote of the Week

"… I mean obviously you have to ask that question, but my focus is … I got a lot of things to focus on outside of that right now to be honest. I've got to focus on myself, getting back for this group, focus on us getting over this stretch [and] continuing to be ready when it comes time. So I'll handle that when it comes [time] to. I understand you gotta ask that question and I'll give you the same answer."

— Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, responding to local reporters when a statement from Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert from earlier in the week was relayed to him in which Gilbert expressed confidence that Mitchell will agree to a contract extension before becoming a free agent.

The Cavaliers acquired Mitchell in September 2022 and have him under contract through the 2025-26 season. They also, as covered below, batted away trade interest from any team that tried this season to engage Cleveland in Mitchell discussions.

Yet in the perpetual quest throughout the NBA to identify the next superstar player who might be made available on the trade market, Mitchell's name continues to come up, since A) Mitchell will not commit to the extension and B) it is widely assumed that the Cavaliers will be forced into fielding trade offers if Mitchell does not agree to an extension in the offseason … lest Cleveland risk losing the 27-year-old for nothing in the summer of 2026

"We’ve been talking to him, sure, for the last couple of years about extending this contract," Gilbert told The Associated Press. "We think he will extend. I think if you listen to him talk, he loves the city. He loves the situation in Cleveland because our players are very young and we're just kind of putting the core together that he’s clearly the biggest part of."

Thanks to a broken nose and persistent left knee trouble, Mitchell appeared in only four games in March for the Cavaliers, who went 7-10 for the month.