The NBA announced the 2026 MVP on Sunday morning and there was a shocking discovery.
No, it wasn’t Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning for the second straight year, it was the fact that fourth-place finisher Luka Doncic failed to receive a single first-place vote.
Zero.
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The Lakers superstar wasn’t expected to win the award, but he did lead the NBA in scoring this season with 33.5 points per game and won the Player of the Month Award twice.
According to the league’s official voting breakdown, Nikola Jokic finished in second-place and received 10 first-place votes. Victor Wembanyama finished in third-place and received five first-place votes. And Doncic finished fourth, earning one second-place vote, eight third-place votes, 60-fourth-place votes and 23 fifth-place votes from 100 media members worldwide. Cade Cunningham finished fifth.
Doncic had an incredible season, averaging 33.5 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 8.3 APG, 1.6 SPG, guiding the Lakers to the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
Lakers fans were quick to point out that Doncic didn’t receive a single first-place vote and voiced their opinions about it in the comments section.
The Lakers haven’t had a major individual award winner since Lamar Odom won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2011. The last Laker to win MVP was Kobe Bryant in 2008.
Doncic finished first in the league in total point, points per game, usage %, total free throws made, free throws per game, three pointer per game, and points per 100 possessions. He also finished third in assists per game and sixth in steals per game.
Meanwhile, Doncic reportedly traveled back to Slovenia on Sunday where he plans to continue to recover from his grade 2 hamstring strain injury.
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