Despite owning four top-five finishes and six All-NBA First Team nods, Luka Dončićhas never been all that close to winning MVP. Through eight years, his best chance has come in 2023-24, when he finished third behind Nikola Jokić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But even then, Dončić only received four first-place votes as Jokić ran away with his third MVP trophy in four seasons.
As he continues his prime, the 27-year-old is open about wanting a distinguished honor like that while still making clear the ultimate
goal is hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy alongside his teammates.
“It would definitely mean a lot,” Dončić told Melissa Rohlin of the New York Post. “Obviously a championship, that’s what you play for every game. That’s what you train for everyday. But obviously it would be nice to win the MVP also. Not everybody can say they have an MVP, so obviously that would be nice.”
Dončić understands individual and team-wide accolades are intertwined. If he and the Lakers are competing for a championship because he’s performing at a high level, his likelihood of finally winning MVP is much higher than if they’re sitting well below title contention. As such, his priority is team success.
“But that comes with the team first. If you don’t play good, you’re never going to win championships or MVP,” Dončić said. “So, we’ve got to play good. I’m very excited to go to war with these people. I think we had a great training camp and we’re ready to go.”
As I see it, the key for Dončić to win MVP is sustaining the MVP-caliber peaks he seemingly reaches for extended stretches every season (well, duh). Too often, he’ll have a month or prolonged period in which the decision-making and/or shot-making are underwhelming and the defense is a glaring issue. Other months, he’s an ethereal scorer and offensive engine whose defense perks up (and can even be a positive!) to look like the best player on the planet.
Now, he doesn’t have to average 38-8-7 on 63% true shooting featuring impactful defense for a full season like he did last March but 31-8-7 on 57% true shooting with 71 assists to 47 turnovers like last December cannot happen either. He has to elevate his floor to better complement his ceiling. And if he does that, the elusive MVP might be his as he leads the Lakers near the top of the Western Conference.
You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.
