Lakers’ Luka Doncic refused to beg for an MVP award after reporters posed him the same question as Victor Wembanyama to make his case to claim the award. While Wembanyama issued a three-point merit list on why he deserves to win, Doncic kept his case limited and didn’t make a big deal.
“I think I’ve played pretty good and we’ve been winning, so that’s it. That’s all I got to say,” Doncic said on Tuesday.
After recording his third straight 40-point game, a 13th straight 30-point game and finishing March with 600 points, a record only Michael Jordan has achieved before, Luka Doncic had every chance to push his case. However, he claimed he’d never done so and because he’s not a voter, he won’t follow the Victor Wembanyama way to campaign for the award.
While Doncic didn’t make a loud case, his performance on Tuesday certainly did. He finished with 42 points, five rebounds, 12 assists, two steals and made six 3-pointers, while not turning the ball over. The Lakers won 127-113, beating an in-form Cavaliers side. Los Angeles recorded its 50th win, taking a step closer to locking the third seed in the playoffs.
JJ Redick and Lakers teammates continue to push Luka Doncic’s MVP case
Lakers coach JJ Redick and other players are leaving no stone unturned in pushing for Luka Doncic’s MVP case. Redick believes Doncic should be named the MVP if he and the Lakers stay as hot as they are to finish the season.
“If we continue to finish this season the way we’re playing right now, and he continues to play that way … to me he is the MVP,” Redick said on Monday.
On Tuesday, Rui Hachimura joined the campaign after Luka Doncic recorded his 16th 40-point game this season.
“I can only see, he is the MVP of this league,” Hachimura said on Tuesday.
Luka Doncic is third as an odds-on favorite in every sportsbook, trailing leader Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama in second. It’s going to take a special effort from Doncic to sway the voters in his favor over the last six games. Two of those are against Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder.
If Doncic outplays his MVP rival and leads Los Angeles to wins in those matchups, it could prove decisive.
