While ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins is campaigning hard for Luka Doncic as a legitimate MVP frontrunner, not everyone inside the NBA media circle is buying the hype. One former NBA champion believes that despite the gaudy numbers and nightly offensive brilliance, Doncic has a glaring flaw that should keep him out of the award conversation’s top tier.

Doncic once again finds himself near the top of the MVP ladder, currently ranked third behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic. Perkins, however, argues that the Lakers star deserves to be placed even higher—ahead of Jokic—based on the sheer weight of his offensive impact. Channing Frye strongly disagrees.

“He should be second,” Perkins said. “We’re witnessing one of the greatest weapons of all time. That damn boy is a fool when it comes down to being an overall offensive threat. The scoring is easy, but getting the dimes right now and playing off the ball.”

“What Luka is doing right now is what James Harden was doing in Houston. This is on the same level,” Perkins added.

Doncic is arguably the most complete offensive threat in the league over the last five years. As great as he is at dismantling the best defenses in the league, his own defensive effort remains perhaps the biggest concerning part of his game. According to former NBA player Channing Frye, the Lakers’ star being a defensive liability blows up his MVP case.

“He is statistically the top 5 worst defender in the NBA,” Frye said on the Road Trippin’ podcast. “Yes, he is stratospheric, offensively. He’s timeless and amazing, and we’ll be talking about his basketball game for the rest of basketball. [But] he does not put that much energy into the defensive end. Until he is not top 10 worst defenders in the NBA. I don’t have him as 1 or 2. I just don’t respect that part.”

Historically, Frye’s comments hold some validity, but defense is not the most dominant factor in MVP voting. Steve Nash had a bad defensive rating (110.6) when he won the award in the 2004-05 season. However, Doncic’s defensive liabilities are a bigger concern for his team, which has struggled defensively throughout this season.

Luka Doncic’s defense should concern the Lakers

Frye highlights a deeper gap between Doncic’s offense and defensive production. First, let’s get it out of the way: Doncic is not among the top five worst defenders in the league. However, he is one of the bottom defensive players with the highest usage (30+ games). He leads the league in usage rate, but he has the worst defensive rating among the top 14 players and the worst net rating among the top 15 players in usage rate.

On a closer look, the Lakers star’s defense has more holes. According to ESPN data, Doncic allows 41 percent of opponents to blow by him, which ranks 4th-lowest among eligible players.

Moreover, in the shots Doncic actually contests, he ranks 109th in the league in effective field goal percentage. This raises a question about Doncic’s willingness to play defense, a point Frye later alluded to in his comments. “I think he can do it, but he chooses not to for the offensive side. But [right now], he’s just playing offense,” he said. 

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With and without Doncic, the gap in the Lakers’ defense is also alarmingly high. Without Doncic on the floor, the Lakers play an impactful defense, allowing just 108.59 points on 100 possessions. However, it skyrockets to 119.07 when Doncic is on the floor.

But there seems to be some hope for the Purple & Gold. While they remain 25th in overall defensive rating this season, they have shown some life lately. Over the last five games, the Lakers rank 10th in the league in defensive rating. Is it encouraging? Definitely yes. Should it be trusted? It’s too soon to tell.