The Los Angeles Lakers are built around Luka Doncic. He is their best player, and everyone around him is there to help him be better. In the playoffs, Doncic was not available, which is a large reason why they are no longer playing.
Still, Doncic had a fantastic regular season. He finished the year with 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game. Doncic also shot 47.6 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. He was named first-team All-NBA.
Despite that, Lakers fans were not happy with a higher finish for Doncic in MVP voting. One NBA analyst wants them to cut it out.
GettyLos Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic dribbles the ball in a game. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Howard Beck Calls Out Lakers Fans Mad About Luka Doncic MVP Vote
Doncic finished fourth in MVP voting. While on the Zach Lowe Show, NBA analyst Howard Beck called out “Luka stans” who were mad about where he finished in that voting.
“This is about Luka Doncic and the fact that when he did not finish higher in the MVP race, I think he finished fourth, there were a lot of people, the Luka stans…I just want to note that he was on all 100 ballots for All-NBA. 91 first-place votes and nine second-place votes. All 100 ballots, and only played 64 games and had to get a pass, a waiver from the NBA to even be eligible. If there were a conspiracy against Luka Doncic, he would not be on all 100 ballots and getting 91 votes to finish first-team.”
Beck was very passionate about what he saw online. Doncic is the first player since the 65-game rule was instituted to get a waiver in order to appear on ballots for postseason awards. He’s lucky he got that, too. He could have been denied after he was suspended for accumulating too many technical fouls.
GettyLos Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic looks to drive the ball. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Wasn’t Good Enough for Luka Doncic to Win MVP
The Lakers were not good enough during the regular season for Doncic to win the MVP award. They finished as the fourth seed in the Western Conference and barely finished with a top-10 offense. That means that the other three vote-getters ahead of him were more worthy.
All three of Shai Gilegous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, and Victor Wembanyama deserved to get more votes than Doncic. Doncic needs to prove he can stay healthy throughout most of the regular season, as well. He missed the entire postseason with a hamstring injury.
Los Angeles has to improve the team around Doncic so that they have some insurance when an injury does happen. That didn’t happen this season, and that’s why they were swept by the Thunder. Improving the frontcourt is going to be Rob Pelinka’s top priority after re-signing Austin Reaves.
Doncic is one of the best offensive players in the league, but Beck wanted to make sure everyone knew he finished right where he was supposed to in that vote.
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