Luka Doncic is one of the best players in the NBA. From winning the rookie of the year in 2019 to upsetting the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs and having a superb Game 7 performance, Doncic has put the Dallas Mavericks on his back. However, in his 5 seasons in the NBA, Luka Doncic has never won an MVP award. Despite other great players that are worthy, Luka Doncic is the most deserving to win 2024 NBA MVP.
Luka Doncic may be the most unique point guard that we have seen since Magic Johnson. A 6’7” point guard, Doncic is one the tallest point guards in the NBA, similar to Magic who was 6’9”. For reference, Doncic may not be a better passer than Johnson, but he is close. However, he averages more rebounds than Magic for his career and is a much better shooter and scorer than Magic. In just his 6th season, Luka Doncic is already being compared to one of the greatest basketball players and arguably the greatest point guard of all time.
There is an elephant in the room when addressing the criteria for winning MVP. One argument that people make is that the best player on the best team should win MVP. However, MVP stands for Most Valuable Player to their team. For example, if you take Jayson Tatum off of the Boston Celtics, who is a candidate for MVP because of his stellar play and his team success, they would still be middle of the pack in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. If you take Joel Embiid off the 76ers, as he is right now due to injury, the 76ers would still be a playoff-caliber team. They are still 10 games over .500 at 32-22, still good for 5th in the Eastern Conference. However, if you take Luka Doncic off of the Dallas Mavericks, I would argue that the Mavericks would not make the playoffs. Despite them having Kyrie Irving, there is speculation that Irving can’t successfully lead a team on his own.
Irving has played with LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Jayson Tatum, and now Luka Doncic, winning one championship with James and the Cavaliers in 2016. When Irving was the main man with Boston, he was a major disappointment in the postseason and was seen as a headcase. In Irving’s superb first three years with the Cavaliers, he played great but the Cavaliers never made the playoffs before they had LeBron. Also, Irving failed to win with the Brooklyn Nets, a team that had a Big 3 consisting of Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden. However, I am not knocking Irving as a player, but rather as a leader.
Although Luka Doncic has played with Dirk Nowitzki, Jalen Brunson, and Kristaps Porzingis, Nowitzki was in his last season and wasn’t the same, Jalen Brunson was not the player he is now with the Knicks, and Porzingis and him constantly argued and never got along. Luka Doncic dominated versus the one seed Phoenix Suns in 2022, including scoring as many points as Phoenix did at halftime to send them home. In fact, Doncic has scored 30 points per game in every playoff series in his career except for one, when he scored 29 per game against the Utah Jazz. He also averages 9 rebounds and 6 assists for his career in the playoffs.
Doncic has repeatedly shown when it matters most, he carries the Mavericks on his back, even if the team around him wasn’t great. Getting that Mavericks team to the Western Conference Finals was a huge accomplishment for Doncic, but they eventually lost that series in 5 games to the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
However, these are all past events that are not very relevant to winning MVP this season. Out of all eligible players, Doncic leads the NBA in scoring as of February 22, 2024 with 34.2 points per game, has the most rebounds out of any guard in the NBA with 8.8 rebounds per game, and is 3rd in the NBA in assists with 9.5 per game. Although, Doncic has the highest usage rating in the NBA which shows his importance to Dallas who has only missed the playoffs twice since they drafted Luka. Those times were his rookie year and last year when he and Kyrie were learning how to play with each other still.
If Luka Doncic doesn’t win MVP, who else is going to? Jayson Tatum? Doncic averages more rebounds per game than Tatum despite Tatum being a small forward. He averages more points and assists than him. Joel Embiid? No. He is no longer eligible to win MVP as he is out with an injury. Giannis Antetokounmpo? Giannis has won 2 MVPs but is on a sputtering Bucks team with fellow superstar guard Damian Lillard, and is averaging similar numbers to Doncic, but Luka is just a little better. Also, Tatum and Embiid have had very subpar playoff performances recently. Doncic hasn’t had one. He’s statistically better than all of these guys.
Nikola Jokic? I will give Jokic a ton of credit. His Denver Nuggets won their first championship in franchise history last year, and won Finals MVP,and has 2 MVP’s himself as well. Although almost averaging a 30 point triple double as well, Jokic has an all-around better team and is still just barely edged out by Doncic. Giannis and Jokic won championships, respectively 1 each, due to adequate help and support around them. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? Once again, I will give him a ton of credit. He has had a breakout season this year. However, he has Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, and others to help out.
This is the year where Luka should win MVP. He practically carried the Mavericks on his back just like Russell Westbrook did with the Thunder averaging a triple double as a point guard in 2017. What did Westbrook get that year? He won MVP. Jokic almost averaged a 25 point triple double in his 2 years when he won MVP. Doncic is averaging nearly a 35 point triple double on a worse team than Jokic. If we follow this criteria, there is just one obvious choice. Luka Doncic.
