Los Angele Lakers superstar Luka Doncic has officially been snubbed from the list of finalists for the 2025-26 NBA MVP award. The Association announced the three finalists on Sunday, Apr. 19, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, and Victor Wembanyama making the cut.
Unfortunately, for as deserving of praise as those three titans are, Doncic was perhaps unfairly overlooked in the voting process due to the optics of leaving them off for a player who appeared in 64 games.
Luka Dončić finishes outside the top three in MVP voting pic.twitter.com/7cDxtcpge3
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) April 20, 2026
Despite appearing in 64 games, Doncic was ruled eligible for post-season awards due to extenuating circumstances. He missed two games due to the birth of a child and would've thus been active for 66 had he not been absent from said games.
It was a divisive decision on the NBA's part that was met with mixed reviews amongst fans and analysts. The question is: Did it permeate the voting process?
With three other top-tier MVP candidates, including Doncic over any one of them could've been met with a surge of discontent. Even putting aside team-specific fan bases, the general response could've been that a deserving candidate was snubbed exclusively due to the NBA's decision to make a games-played exception when Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic, and Wembanyama all cleared 65 games.
Doncic played more minutes than all three, but the optics of giving an MVP finalist spot to a player who failed to reach 65 games may have played a factor nevertheless.
Luka Doncic not an MVP finalist. Was it a response to 65-game exception?
Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic, and Wembanyama were nothing short of sensational in 2025-26. They combined statistical brilliance with an unavoidably elite impact beyond the box score, ultimately leading their respective teams to the top three seeds in the Western Conference.
As such, no player who was included ahead of Doncic is undeserving of their place as a finalist for the 2025-26 NBA MVP award.
In saying that, Doncic turned in an individual season deserving of MVP recognition. He led the NBA in scoring, ranked third in assists, finished sixth in steals, and was even top 25 in rebounding. If that weren't enough, Doncic led all players who appeared in at least 50 games in three-point field goals made per contest.
From a statistical perspective, Doncic did everything one could possibly dream of in regard to building a case for being an MVP finalist.
Beyond the numbers, Doncic led the Lakers to 53 wins in a season during which they lost Austin Reaves for 31 games and LeBron James for 22. He led Los Angeles in points, assists, steals, field goals and three-point field goals made and attempted, and usage rate, and ranked second in rebounds.
Unfortunately, the optics of giving Doncic MVP at 64 games played appears to have cost him a spot as a finalist.
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