The NBA announced on Sunday that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder is this season’s Most Valuable Player. Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs finished second and third, respectively.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the league also shared the complete voting results from 100 media members around the world. Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers came in fourth, while Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham rounded out the top five.
Doncic received zero first-place votes, one second-place vote, eight third-place votes, 60 fourth-place votes and 23 fifth-place votes. It was a surprising tally for some, especially Lakers fans, considering the Slovenian superstar led the league in scoring this season.
Other players who received MVP votes are Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers and Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Lakers Fans React to Luka Doncic Receiving No First-Place MVP Votes
Here are some of the reactions from Lakers fans regarding Luka Doncic getting zero first-place votes in this year’s NBA MVP voting.
@PurpGoldLakers: “Luka got ZERO. The disrespect is INSANE.”
@AyyyeeeAnthony: “Luka can average 50 for a season and would receive 0 first place votes cause he’s a Laker”
@C_A_R_L_A_M_A_R: “This is a symptom of insufficient narrative momentum & media ecosystem buy-in.”
@HoodiiMamba: “Obviously an Agenda against him.”
@Boikito14: “You know the league hate my goat Luka.”
@OrderSquid38: “This league genuinely hates luka man this is disgusting.”
@CJcalvinXI: “That’s ridiculous. It really does seem like the league goes out of its way to avoid awarding a Laker.”
While some Lakers fans are not happy with the results, the franchise hasn’t had an individual award winner since 2011, when Lamar Odom won the Sixth Man of the Year.
The last Laker to win an MVP was Kobe Bryant back in 2008, while the last Laker to finish in the top three of MVP voting was LeBron James in 2020, as per Basketball Reference.
Luka Doncic Back in Slovenia
With the Lakers’ season ending early, Luka Doncic reportedly returned to Slovenia to continue his recovery from his left calf injury. Doncic won’t be playing competitive basketball this summer after announcing that he’s not going to suit up for Slovenia in the upcoming FIBA World Cup qualifying window.
Doncic explained that the decision didn’t stem from his injury. It was more of a personal decision since he wants to spend more time with his daughters amid his custody battle with ex-partner Anamaria Goltes.
“I love my daughters more than anything, and they will always come first in my life,” Doncic wrote, via ClutchPoints. “As I continue working toward joint custody of my daughters, I have been forced to make a difficult decision between traveling and playing for the Slovenian national team and being with my daughters this summer. Unfortunately, it has been made extremely difficult for me to see them over the past eight months.”
Slovenia is scheduled to face Estonia on July 3 and Sweden on July 7. They will enter the window atop Group H with three wins and one loss. To qualify for the second round of the qualifying tournament, they have to finish third or higher in the group.
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