Luka Doncic has opened up on his MVP race and the Slovenian player doesn’t believe he’s worthy of being considered a contender for the award. The 21-year-old is posting very good numbers this campaign, continuing what he did last year but the results haven’t been there for his Dallas Mavericks, who are fighting to not become the worst team in the Western Conference.
At the beginning of the season, Doncic was considered the biggest favorite to win the MVP award this year, at least for oddsmakers, but things took a different turn and the player is now struggling to get his team out of the hole where they are right now. Recently, the guard was interviewed on Stephen A. Smith’s “Stephen A’s World”, where he made a shocking confession about his MVP race (9:10 mark).
“Honestly, I don’t believe I should be in the MVP conversation this year,” Luka revealed.
Smith asked why he felt that way and the European player talked about the struggles of his team this campaign, crediting the bad record they’re having and the bad basketball they’re playing for his opinion.
“Like where we are, like 13th or 14 seed. So, that’s why. We just got to play the right way now, get into playoffs. That’s our key this year. Get in the playoffs and show what we can do in the postseason.”
“I don’t really know, but I think like top two teams in the West. That will be my opinion,” Luka said after Smith asked him where he thinks a team should be ranking for a player to be considered a serious MVP candidate.
Luka’s favoritism as the MVP winner this season changed a lot and now LeBron James is considered the favorite to take the award home for both oddsmakers and the NBA, as the King leads the most recent update of the ranking. Other players like Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, and even Nikola Jokic have gotten some consideration for the prize, while Luka is struggling to lead his team to the postseason this year.
