Despite being one of the best individual players of his generation, Luka Doncic has yet to receive the regular season accolade that would truly vindicate that truth. Doncic is not just a six-time All-NBA player, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is a six-time first teamer. The problem is that MVP coronation never arrived.
It felt like Doncic was close in 2023-24 when the former Dallas Mavericks superstar put up historic counting stats that had not been seen since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976. Luka finished third in the race. Last season's red-hot March generated real MVP momentum, too, but Doncic ultimately finished fourth on the final ballot after an untimely injury.
2026-27 is shaping up to have an excellent blend of narrative, weakened competition, and individual brilliance. This should be as good as it gets.
Luka Doncic should have a clear MVP narrative in his favor
There are plenty of skeptics regarding the offseason retool in Los Angeles. That should actually work to help Doncic's future MVP case.
The idea that hopefully catches steam is that Luka would need to do some serious heavy lifting for the Lakers to be a contender next season. While some are projecting Play-In seeding for Los Angeles, a top-three spot in the Western Conference can be viewed as a surprise. There is reason to believe the team can find that type of success, too.
The Lakers still have a duo that should be capable of lifting them to such heights again. That would be Doncic and Reaves.
The Lakers stars were 30-11 when playing together in the regular season during the last campaign. The math on that is quite easy. That is a 60-win pace.
Even if the Lakers do not quite get to 60 wins on the dot, a strong season with 50-plus victories and a top seed should be viewed as overachieving. Hopefully, the voters can remember the context of how this offseason in Los Angeles was talked about when the time to cast those ballots comes.
Luka Doncic's biggest competition is down to just one player
Nikola Jokic has been crowned NBA MVP three times. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander now has two trophies of his own in that category. Voter fatigue is very real and bound to catch up.
That leaves two players from last year's heavily-contested MVP race to fight for the first opportunity to land that trophy — Doncic and Victor Wembanyama. There is one reason Luka could have an edge over Vic.
There is no doubt the NBA is eager to crown Wembanyama, given his rapid rise to face of the league status. However, Wemby is also just 22 years old. The thought process that could give 27-year-old Doncic the edge here is that his counterpart will have plenty more opportunities to win an MVP. Luka, on the other hand, has a feeling of being overdue around him.
Luka Doncic is always good for the eye-popping numbers
If there is anything that Doncic is reliably good for, it is gaudy counting stats. Over the last three seasons, Luka has averaged 32.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 8.7 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, with shooting splits of 47-37-78. Wow.
With the team retooled around him, a sudden drop in production is certainly not expected. As long as the two aforementioned elements pair themselves up well with this one, plenty of fans will be aggressively screaming for Doncic to finally land that first MVP of his career next season.
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