Every season, as we head into the final stretch before the playoffs after the All-Star break, the MVP debate starts to take shape, usually following the same script. Numbers and seeding are compared before the conversation inevitably drifts to one familiar argument: who’s the best player in the world? However, according to Charles Barkley, that’s the wrong premise.

“First of all, we have this stupid argument every year,” Barkley explained on Inside the NBA. “Who’s the best player? The MVP never goes to the best player. It’s a dog fight right now between Jaylen Brown and Cade Cunningham. If one of them two guys don’t win MVP, it would to me it’ll be like – and I don’t have a vote – but Cade Cunningham and Jaylen Brown, them boys, they are 1 and 1A for MVP.”

That’s a direct challenge to the current MVP narrative. According to the official MVP ladder on the NBA’s website, the race is headlined by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, and Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic.

SGA is leading the top seed in the Western Conference while recording one of the best volume scoring seasons in the history o the NBA. Jokic is flirting with yet another triple-double, and Doncic is leading the league in scoring at an absurd 32.8 per night

On paper,  their case looks airtight, but injuries have complicated things. Gilgeous-Alexander has missed significant time with abdominal issues, Doncic most recently sat out four games after missing a significant portion of the early season, and even Jokic, who has been healthy nearly his entire career, dealt with nearly a month of injury in January.

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Their late availability matters in a race where the opposing sides have narratives as compelling as Cunningham’s and Brown’s, as Barkley pointed out.

Kenny Smith Explains the Standard Charles Barkley Is Using for Cunningham and Brown

Cunningham has elevated the Pistons from a feel-good #6 seed last year to the best team in the east, consistently beating the #2 seeded Knicks. He has taken a leap in scoring, playmaking, an even defense, reshaping expectations for a franchise which had, by all means, a mediocre offseason and trade deadline.

Brown, meanwhile in a season without costar Jayson Tatum, who is rehabbing a torn Achilles tendon, has made the Celtics look just as dominant as they were with him, despite tearing down the core that won them the championship in 2024. Boston looks like one of the most complete teams in the league, and Brown has cemented himself as a number 1 option.

That’s what Kenny Smith made clear on Inside the NBA after Charles Barkley selected them as his picks for MVP.

“I think, also you look at MVP of the league,” he said. “It means you you’ve also maybe taken your team to a height that wasn’t expected and both of them have done that.”

For now, if the Pistons and the Celtics keep climbing and outperforming their early-season projections, their cases become harder to ignore. Cunningham and Brown are already #4 and #6 on the MVP tracker already. With Barkley making his preferences known, don’t be surprised if they change further.