Mavs' Luka Doncic Snubbed: NBA Announces MVP Finalists

Preseason MVP favorite Luka Doncic is not an award finalist.

DALLAS - The NBA announced the three finalists for this year's Most Valuable Player award and Dallas Mavs star Luka Doncic is not among them.

At the beginning of the 2021 NBA season, Doncic was the odds-on favorite to take home the NBA's Most Valuable Player award. Doncic's odds fell sharply after a 9-14 start that saw the Mavs fall to 14th in the Western Conference, but he remained in the race through out the season. 

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride? Last season, Doncic finished fourth in MVP voting, behind James Harden, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

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Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry are the finalists for this year's NBA MVP award. The three finalists for each annual award are based on voting results from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters

The three finalists for each annual award, based on voting results from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, are listed in alphabetical order below ⬇️

Full release: https://t.co/zUhda0Q6ln pic.twitter.com/fiaUMeGE8C

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 20, 2021

A two-time NBA All-Star, Doncic is one of only eight players to have collected over 2,000 points, 500 boards, and 300 assists before turning 21 years old. This season, he shot a career-high 35 percent from three and averaged 27.7 points and 8.6 assists per game. 

No matter who wins this year, that player will make history... If Jokic or Embiid win it'll be the first time a center has been named the NBA's MVP since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000. If Curry wins, he'd become one of nine players in NBA history to win at least three MVP awards, joining Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Moses Malone.

The NBA is announcing the award winners in a similar fashion as last season during the bubble; broadcasting the winners during the playoffs on TNT instead of the end-of-season awards show.

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