The Hawks were on the road Monday, December 1, to face the Pistons. It was a back-and-forth game between Atlanta and Detroit. In the end, Cade Cunningham and the Pistons won 99-98.
Atlanta dropped to 13-9 to begin the 2025-26 season. However, the team is still seventh in the Eastern Conference. Since the beginning of November, the Hawks have been without Trae Young. Recently, NBA insider Marc Spears shared he believes Hawks’ Jalen Johnson is “the MVP of the Eastern Conference right now.” Johnson has been incredible for Atlanta while Young misses time.
Jalen Johnson continues to improve his production in year five
“[Jalen Johnson] is the MVP of the Eastern Conference right now.”
(🎥 @ESPNNBA )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) December 1, 2025
With the 20th pick in the 2021 NBA draft, the Hawks selected Jalen Johnson out of Duke. Over five seasons, Johnson has appeared in 204 games and made 114 starts. He’s been a full-time starter for Atlanta since the 2023-24 season. With each year that has passed, Jalen Johnson continues to elevate his game for the Hawks. Johnson’s 23.2 points and 7.3 assists per game are new career-highs for the 23-year-old.
Additionally, his 10.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game are tied for his personal best. On top of that, Johnson’s .413 three-point percentage is a new career-high. Jalen Johnson is off to a hot start to begin the 2025-26 season.
Recently, NBA insider Marc Spears made an appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today. Spears made an emphatic statement saying that Jalen Johnson is “the MVP of the Eastern Conference right now.”
Jalen Johnson has the 3rd most games this season with 25+ PTS, 10+ REB, & 5+ AST.
Only Jokic & Giannis have more. pic.twitter.com/qPpE6kXVR1
— Real Sports (@realapp) December 2, 2025
The other members of NBA Today argued that players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Cade Cunningham would also be in the running. Mars Spears had facts to back up his case for Jalen Johnson. He reported that Johnson is the only player in the East averaging 22/9/7. The only other player in the NBA averaging those numbers is three-time MVP Nikola Jokic- strong company for Jalen Johnson.
Atlanta won 13 games in November, the most in that month in the last 11 years. Leading the way for the Hawks during that stretch was Jalen Johnson. Against the 76ers on November 30, Johnson exploded for a career-high 41 points.
In November, he averaged 23.6 points per game for the Hawks. Through his first 20 games of the 2025-26 season, Jalen Johnson has made a strong case for being one of the top players in the East. Marc Spears claims he is “the MVP of the Eastern Conference right now.”
