The NBA announced its latest Kia NBA MVP ladder. Taking part on the official league website, it is a good gage of how the Most Valuable Player award conversatio

The precise moment when the Kia Race to the MVP got real was last Sunday when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander swatted away a layup attempt by Jayson Tatum, another Kia MVP contender, in the tense fourth-quarter moments of Oklahoma City vs. Boston.

It’s lifted him above his bigger-market, better-marketed peers in All-Star voting, with fans gravitating toward his trench coats and slick handle alone.  And on Wednesday night, it served as an elbow from the top rope,