Alright, it is time to just call it what it is: Luka Doncic is about to have an MVP season, and somehow, some Los Angeles Lakers fans still have not caught up.
Doncic was already a top-five player before he ever dropped a pound, and now he is locked in? Lakers fans, you all should be in for a treat this upcoming year.
He led the NBA in scoring in 2023-24 with 33.9 points per game, dragged a flawed Dallas Mavericks roster all the way to the NBA Finals, and finished third in MVP voting, even receiving four first-place votes in the finals tally.
He did this all while carrying more weight, physically and mentally, than most people in the league. Now? He is in the best shape of his life, and that changes everything.
Luka Doncic can challenge for best player in the NBA in 2025-26
Zach Lowe said it best on his podcast: “If this lasts, the big story is the Lakers have a top-three NBA player in the kind of condition he’s never been in, in his career. That’s the story.”
When Lowe said that, he was not sugarcoating anything. He was pointing out the obvious: Doncic has always been elite, but now he looks like the complete package. This season he could be elevated from a great player to an unstoppable one.
There is no denying that Doncic has always had the skill, the vision, the clutch gene, the insane IQ. He has been dicing up defenses and running games like a vet since he entered the league at a young age. This version of him is going to be a problem for everyone else around the league.
Some fans still want to nitpick. They bring up the calf injury that sidelined him on Christmas. They point out he only played 50 games last season.
Context matters.
Even through an injury-riddled season, Doncic was able to help the Lakers lock down the third seed in the Western Conference. When he played, he looked like the best player on the floor more often than not.
Now, he is fully healthy, in a system that fits him, with LeBron James, a starting-caliber center in DeAndre Ayton, and a defensive beast in Marcus Smart, someone he played a part in recruiting, next to him. The sky should be the limit for this man.