Let’s pretend to be surprised for a moment. Luka Doncic just dropped 43 points to guide the Lakers to their 13 win in the last 15 games. In a tightly contested and physical matchup, Doncic was an outlier. His scoring efficiency kept the Purple and Gold in the contest. But this has been happening since the All-Star break. Yet, the latest MVP rankings saw Doncic drop to fourth.

Austin Reaves was the first to express his surprise at that fact. “He continues to drop in the MVP race, which is insane to me. I guess it don’t really matter, maybe he’s gotta score 60, I don’t know,” he said about his teammate. It’s reached that helpless point. Even Doncic feels he has run out of ways to bring himself up the ladder.

“Yeah, hopefully, but the better I play, the more I go down in ratings, so I don’t know what more I can do,” the Slovenian said about possibly winning the elusive trophy for the first time in his career.

This isn’t to say Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, and Nikola Jokic aren’t having tremendous seasons. Their performances can’t be discarded either. But Luka Doncic is literally putting up video game numbers. He’s averaging 38.7 points in his last 15 games, shooting nearly 40% from beyond the arc.

The common complaint around him is his defense. Well, the Lakers are outscoring opponents by 8.4 points with Doncic on the floor. Clearly, his defense isn’t as lazy as advertised. He’s among the players with the most charges drawn and doing phenomenally well when targeted in isolation possessions. The question really is, what more does Luka Doncic need to do to be acknowledged?

He’s won back-to-back Player of the Week honors in March. Yet somehow, Doncic dropped down in the MVP rankings. Three other players from the same conference make the top 3. Does it make sense?

Luka Doncic finds himself at risk of missing the 65-game criteria

Luka Doncic doesn’t think there’s anything more he can do to embellish his MVP case. However, it may happen that he misses out on the trophy entirely. The 65-game rule has created quite the controversy, especially after Cade Cunningham’s injury. It doesn’t create an exception for players missing time due to genuine injuries. But that’s not the case with Doncic.

He’s going to be suspended for the Lakers’ next game after picking up his 16 technical against the Brooklyn Nets. It takes his tally of missed games to 13. In short, Doncic can only afford to miss four more games. Even a minor injury could see the six-time All-Star be ineligible for the award.

Luckily, the Lakers may get the call rescinded again. Luka Doncic didn’t appear to be highly confrontational in his sequence with Brooklyn’s Zaire Williams. Lakers head coach JJ Redick has already confirmed they will be appealing the decision. They’ll hope good luck can strike them twice. The league previously rescinded the technical foul Luka Doncic received against the Orlando Magic. However, this time around it could be difficult since officials overlooked the play before assessing the decision.

That being said, it already appears as if the narratives are being stacked against Luka Doncic. He’s yet to drop under 30 points in his last 12 games. That’s the highest such streak in his career. Moreover, the Lakers are subsequently winning games on the back of his astounding performances. And just as a bonus, he’s the leading scorer in the league, while being the top rebounder among guards and ranks fourth in assists. If that’s not enough to at least stay in contention, then I’ve got to side with Doncic.

What more does Luka Doncic need to do to win MVP?