The NBA MVP award is one of the most prestigious awards that a player can win. Sure it doesn’t hold a candle to the Larry O’Brien, but the MVP is an individual award. It is the direct result of a player’s blood, sweat, and tears over a long and grueling 82-game regular season. Basketball icons like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Magic Johnson have all won multiple MVPs in their career. The mere presence of an MVP on a player’s resume cements them as one of the best active basketball players. We saw it happen with Giannis Antetokounmpo; we saw it happen with Nikola Jokić, and we are seeing it happen with Joel Embiid. But what about Luka Doncic?

Is the Mavs’ Slovenian All-Star being unfairly judged in the current MVP rankings? Why isn’t he being considered a top 3 nominee for the award?

What makes an MVP-worthy season?

Giannis Antetokounmpo won a DPOY with one of his MVPs, meaning he was the league’s best defender that season. Joel Embiid was the NBA’s scoring leader last year, one of the stats that pushed his MVP case the most. Russell Westbrook led the league in triple-doubles during his MVP season. Notice the pattern? The judging criteria for the MVP award remains a mystery to us regular folk, but one thing is for sure, the MVP has led the NBA in at least one category.

Currently, Luka Doncic is second in the NBA for points per game, with a whopping 33.7 ppg. The only man above him is Joel Embiid, who also happens to be the frontrunner for the MVP. But Doncic ranks a low 5th in the KIA MVP ladder. What might be the reason for that?

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Well, for starters, team record might play a part. All 4 players above Doncic play for teams with very good records. While Embiid’s 76ers are 3rd in the East (23-10), Antetokounmpo’s Bucks are 2nd (24-9). Nikola Jokić’s Nuggets are 3rd in the West with a record of 24-11 and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder are 2nd at 23-9. In comparison, Doncic and his Mavs are 7th in the West with a 19-15 record. But is that really his fault?

The Mavericks have been very unlucky with injuries this season, and when compared to the other teams, the difference is night and day. Doncic’s second star Kyrie Irving missed nearly a month of basketball in December after a leg injury during a game. almost soon after, Dereck Lively II’s injury left the Mavs even more shorthanded. All things considered, Doncic putting up numbers of 33.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg, and 9.4 apg with so many missing teammates is near superhuman.

(But somehow it isn’t enough for the NBA to consider him a top 3 MVP nominee)

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Luka Doncic for MVP

Doncic’s numbers certainly speak for themselves. In addition to his per-game averages, he is shooting at a 61.2 true shooting percentage, and just last week dropped 50 points on the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Christmas Game. His game has just gotten better since he became a father, as shown by this statistic that SportsCenter tweeted out last month.

But with so much in his favor, how is Doncic still not considered a frontrunner for the award? The simplest answer might also be the harshest one. Giannis, Embiid, and Jokic have the pedigree. They have all won the award before. Two of them even have a championship ring and a Finals MVP to their name. As for Shai, the Thunder are the shiny new toy. Their young roster has taken the NBA by storm. 3 of their 5 starters are also legitimate contenders for an All-Star call-up. In comparison, Luka and the Mavs seem, well, boring. 

Kyrie Irving doesn’t capture the eye like he used to in his Cleveland days. Lively II is good, but with the rookie centers we’ve seen so far (Holmgren and Wembanyama), he seems like a run-of-the-mill, pick-and-roll type center. The Mavs aren’t lethal like the Sixers. They aren’t fast and entertaining like the Thunder. They lack the chemistry that the Nuggets display, and they haven’t had any jaw-dropping highlights like the Bucks.

While many aspects of the MVP award are based on a player’s game, a large part of it is purely a popularity contest. And as much as it hurts me to write it, in that aspect, it would require a miracle for Luka Doncic to even have a chance at being considered for the MVP.

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