Lakers duo Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves went off at the latest NBA MVP ratings after the Slovenian superstar slid further amid an 11-game 30-point streak. In the NBA.com’s latest ladder race, Doncic was fourth behind Victor Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, despite leading the Lakers to 13 wins over the past 15 games.
In that span, Doncic averaged 36.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.2 steals on 48.6% shooting, including 38.4% from deep. He was second last week, but after Victor Wembanyama campaigned for his MVP case, the ratings significantly shook up.
On Friday, after Luka Doncic recorded a 41-point game in the win over Brooklyn, extending his streak to 12 games with at least 30 points, he took a sharp dig at the ratings, saying (via Legion Hoops):
“Yeah, hopefully, but the better I play the more I go down in ratings so I don’t know what more I can do.”
(The above-mentioned statement is translated.)
Meanwhile, Austin Reaves raised the issue during his walk-off interview, saying:
“And he continues to drop in the MVP race, which is insane to me. I guess it don’t really matter, maybe he’s gotta score 60, I don’t know.”
Luka Doncic’s updated NBA MVP odds
While Luka Doncic has slipped down in the ratings, he’s still third in the MVP odds, down one place from second. Victor Wembanyama’s campaign has helped him surge and close the gap to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was a runaway favorite until a week ago with odds north of -1000. He’s now at -500, while Wembanyama trails him at +500 and Doncic is at +1200.
Wembanyama’s comments on defense may have done more damage than Doncic warranted, after the Frenchman claimed that basketball is played on both sides of the floor. While Doncic isn’t an elite defender, he’s been more than respectable over the past month, putting up historic offensive numbers that shouldn’t be discounted.
However, that’s not how most voters would see it. As suggested by NBA.com’s latest MVP ladder, it might take an even more unthinkable effort from Doncic to steal the favorite tag over the final eight games.
