Luka Doncic is putting up absurd numbers, torching defenses, and rewriting record books, but somehow, his MVP stock isn’t climbing. Stuck at fourth, frustration is brewing, and now a noted analyst has stepped in to break down exactly what’s holding him back.

The Sports Illustrated journalist, Chris Mannix, recently opined that Doncic’s defense is what is holding him back. He certainly admits that the Serbian has one of the best offenses in the game, but it is his defense that is hurting his MVP case. Mannix even went as far as claiming that the Lakers' star has one of the worst defenses in the league.

An X update from NBA Base relayed his words, stating, “The defensive numbers have just been they’ve been bad. I want to read some of this: Luka has an individual defensive rating this year of 115.6. That would rank 119th among the 180 players with 25-plus starts this season. So he has been, in any measurable statistic, one of the worst defensive players in the league.”

Mannix, who holds NBA MVP voting rights, stated that Doncic currently trails four players he’s prioritizing in his MVP consideration. He mentioned, “My first tier is the group of players that we’ve been talking about: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokić, Jaylen Brown.”

If we’re talking strictly about this season, Luka is averaging a league-leading 33.7 points on over 47% shooting, along with 8.2 assists, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.6 steals across 62 games. His numbers make a strong case for MVP. After all, some would argue offense is the best defense.

With that said, not only Luka but even his teammates are frustrated about the MVP rankings

Austin Reaves blasts the MVP debate as Luka Doncic drops

After the Lakers decimated the Brooklyn Nets by 116-99, Austin Reaves raised eyebrows by questioning why his teammate Luka Doncic is not at the forefront of the MVP debate, because his recent run has been nothing but phenomenal.

“He continues to drop in the MVP race, which is insane to me," Reaves said in a post-game comment. "I guess it doesn't really matter, maybe he's gotta score 60, I don't know."

Even Doncic himself appears to be done with the MVP debate: “The better I play, the more I go down in rankings, so I don't know what more I can do.”

Given that, do you think the Lakers' No. 77 rightfully sits in the third spot in the MVP contenders' list? Or should he hold a better rank?

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Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Souvik Roy