Luka Doncic’s first full season with the Los Angeles Lakers has been a massive success as he has the team in prime position heading into the playoffs.
Doncic’s offensive tear since the All-Star break propelled the Lakers up the standings where they currently have a hold on the third seed. Head coach JJ Redick has backed his superstar for MVP previously and doubled down on that belief prior to the team’s win against the Washington Wizards.
“I would just say that if we continue to finish the season the way we’re playing right now, and he continues to play that way — to me, he is the MVP,” Redick said. “But sometimes there’s recency bias and sometimes there’s the bias of a certain stretch of the season. When we started 15-4, you could’ve made an argument that he was the MVP then. He’s been the MVP for two of the three segments of the season.
“But I’ve said this all year, our losses are just so loud. I use that Jan. 18 day all the time. I don’t know what it is as of today, but as of our film session yesterday, we were tied for second in the league since Jan. 18 in terms of total wins. It hasn’t been as bad as people have made it out to be, particularly when you factor in all of the injuries that we’ve had, like a number of teams. I think we all feel really comfortable with where our top nine is when we’re healthy and he’s the engine that’s driving all of our winning. Certainly, we have a ton of guys starring in their roles. But he’s the driver.”
Doncic’s offensive exploits to open the 2025-26 season seem like they’ve been forgotten given the rough stretch the Lakers endured in the middle of the year. However, as Redick noted Doncic has arguably been the best player in the NBA for several months in totality and that should make his case stronger.
As of now, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is expected to repeat as MVP while Victor Wembanyama has made his own late surge up the MVP rankings. Doncic likely won’t win the award, but it won’t be because he wasn’t deserving.
Austin Reaves discusses perceived bias against Luka Doncic in MVP race
Doncic had an easy 41 points in the win against the Nets, making another strong argument for his MVP case. However, no matter how much Doncic scores it seems like he doesn’t gain any traction in the MVP conversation.
Austin Reaves discussed the perceived bias against Doncic and wondered aloud what his co-star needs to do to earn more recognition.
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