It is worth wondering what Luka Doncic truly needs to do for an MVP trophy to make its way over to his cabinet. Whatever it is, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is apparently not doing enough of it to win over the people who participated in ESPN's MVP straw poll. Doncic ranked fifth.
Tim Bontemps reported four players ahead of the Lakers point guard at this stage of the season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was favored to repeat as the MVP winner. Nikola Jokic trailed firmly behind him at second. Cade Cunningham was a distant third. Victor Wembanyama was just after Cade at fourth.
The results were discussed on a recent episode of The Hoop Collective. It was revealed Doncic did not even get a first place vote. On top of that, Luka had only received two votes for second. It was brutal.
"Part of the thing here, I would guess, is we're getting into the games played situation," Bontemps said. "... Luka has already missed 12 or 13 games."
Sure, Doncic has missed 12 matchups. That hurts his chances against the 65-game rule, which could keep him from qualifying as an NBA MVP candidate altogether. That limitation kept him off the All-NBA Teams last season. However, that is an incredibly misplaced point considering who three of the four guys above him are.
Luka Doncic can truly not catch a single MVP break, ever
Gilgeous-Alexander, the MVP favorite, is currently out with an abdominal strain, awaiting re-evaluation. The games missed are going to rack up for him.
Jokic has also been absent for significant time this season with a major injury. The Denver Nuggets superstar has actually played less games in the 2025-26 season than Doncic has. The exact same thing can be said of Wembanyama, who has played 41 games by comparison to Luka's 42.
Cunningham is the only player who has been largely healthy and is currently active without an obvious ailment. That is the only guy above Doncic who has a clear advantage in that department.
Brian Windhorst joked that his producer for the show, who was a Lakers fan, was not happy when Bontemps revealed Doncic's placement on the list. That frustration was certainly warranted.
The Lakers and Doncic have not delivered the perfect campaign to get the superstar guard his first MVP. However, fifth on the logic of games missed is downright indefensible. Luka is averaging nearly 33-8-9 on a playoff team in the Western Conference.
Perhaps this is not the strongest case Doncic has ever had. However, becoming the afterthought in the race he was treated like here was tough to watch.