Luka Doncic has been absolutely phenomenal for the Los Angeles Lakers in this 2025-26 NBA season, but he isn’t getting much love from the media. ESPN’s second MVP straw poll came out on Friday, and Doncic finds himself outside the top five.
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 930 points
2. Nikola Jokic: 700 points
3. Cade Cunningham: 382 points
4. Victor Wembanyama: 242 points
5. Luka Doncic: 177 points
Doncic did not receive a single first-place vote from the 100 media members. The six-time All-Star only got two second-place votes as well, and you could argue he deserved more.
Doncic is averaging 32.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in 2025-26. The 26-year-old is the league’s leading scorer and has led the Lakers to a respectable 33-21 record. Doncic shouldn’t be the MVP frontrunner, but for him to be this far off doesn’t quite look right.
WNBA icon Candace Parker claims Doncic is being overlooked for MVP the way Kobe Bryant was. Parker thinks people have gotten bored with greatness when it comes to the Slovenian, who has only ever finished in the top three in voting once (2024).
Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were the top two ahead of Doncic back then, and they occupy those spots here as well. Only the order is flipped.
Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2025-26. The reigning MVP has the Thunder atop the West with a 42-14 record, and it’s not surprising that he got 78 first-place votes here.
As for Jokic, he is putting up 28.5 points, 12.4 rebounds, 10.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game for the 35-21 Denver Nuggets in 2025-26. The Serb leads the NBA in rebounds and assists, and got 18 first-place votes.
Jokic was the only one, apart from Gilgeous-Alexander, to have gotten more than three of them. The gap probably would have been smaller, but he missed 16 games due to injury and hasn’t quite looked right since he returned.
All that time out has also meant Jokic is dangerously close to being ineligible for MVP because of the 65-game rule. He can only miss one more game for the rest of this season. Doncic is also at risk, having missed 12 games, as is a certain Frenchman who is fourth.
Victor Wembanyama is averaging 24.2 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 2.7 blocks per game for the 39-16 San Antonio Spurs in 2025-26. Wembanyama has missed 14 games, and can only miss three more. While he may not win MVP if he remains eligible for end-of-season awards, he will most certainly win DPOY. Wembanyama would have won it last year as well, but he only played 46 games.
Last but not least, we get to Cade Cunningham. Cunningham is averaging 25.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 9.7 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game for the Detroit Pistons in 2025-26. He has led the Pistons to a league-best 42-13 record, and his head coach, J.B. Bickerstaff, believes he should be the MVP frontrunner.
Cunningham will certainly have a good case if the team finishes with the best record in the league this season. If Doncic, Jokic, and Wembanyama become ineligible, he’ll most likely be in the top two.
It will be fascinating to see how this MVP race pans out.
