Dallas Basketball

Mavs' Luka Doncic Falls on NBA MVP Ladder; Remains in Top 5

Unless the Dallas Mavericks can go on a couple of lengthy win streaks in the second half of the season, it seems like Luka Doncic will continue to be overlooked in the NBA's MVP race.

Dalton Trigg

Mavs' Luka Doncic Falls on NBA MVP Ladder; Remains in Top 5
Mavs' Luka Doncic Falls on NBA MVP Ladder; Remains in Top 5 /
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The Dallas Mavericks have been one of the most injured teams in the NBA this season, but despite that, they find themselves sitting in sixth-place in the Western Conference standings with a 24-18 record.

One big reason for that has been the play of superstar Luka Doncic, who is averaging 33.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.2 assists while shooting 48.5 percent overall, including a career-high 37.6 percent from 3-point range. Those are MVP-worthy numbers, especially when considering the amount of injuries Dallas has had to navigate through, but they're apparently not enough to move Doncic up on NBA.com's MVP Ladder.

Luka Doncic, Derrick Jones Jr., Dante Exum, Dallas Mavericks
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

"Doncic returned from a three-game hiatus and dropped 33 points to go with 13 rebounds and 10 assists, scoring 14 of his 33 points in the second quarter. The showing marked Doncic’s seventh triple-double this season and 63rd of his career," Michael C. Wright wrote after dropping Doncic from No. 4 to No. 5 on the list.

"Did we mention Doncic is just 24 years old? He was scheduled to face off with Stephen Curry on Friday at Golden State, but the matchup was postponed after the passing of Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic."

Luka Doncic Ties LeBron James on NBA All-Time 30-Point Triple-Double List as Mavs Fall to Lakers

That doesn't necessarily sound like an assessment that would warrant moving Doncic down the MVP Ladder, does it? With all due respect to the players in front of Doncic – Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid – all of them have better supporting casts and none of them have had to go through the adversity Doncic has this season.

A lot can change in 40 games, though, and we'll see if the Mavs can compile enough wins to give Doncic a real chance to take home the first MVP award of his career when the dust settles.

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Dalton Trigg
DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.

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