Luka Dončić’s eligibility for the NBA’s end-of-season awards was the center of controversy due to the 65-game rule. Now that the finalists have been announced, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is once again at the core of these discussions, but for a different reason.
NBA World Goes Wild After Luka Dončić is Left Out of 2026 MVP Finalists
Dončić played in only 64 games this season, which would have omitted him from MVP discussions and any of the All-NBA teams. However, two of the contests he missed were due to the birth of his daughter in December.
Because of these circumstances, the league and the NBPA agreed to grant him eligibility. After all, he did put up numbers worthy of awards throughout the season. Despite all this, he’ll still fall short of earning his first MVP award.
The league has announced this year’s three finalists, and the Slovenian star is not among them. Instead, the three finalists are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, and Victor Wembanyama.
While all three of these finalists made strong cases with their outstanding play, there are still plenty who disagree with Dončić being snubbed.
“Wow. No Luka is kind of insane,” fan page Ingram Alerts reacted.
Wow. No Luka is kind of insane https://t.co/dwkthB1K2D
— IngramAlerts (@IngramAlerts) April 19, 2026
“Luka Dončić better than all three of them,” NBA personality @Kenlovehoops asserted.
“He’ll never ever win one btw😂 not after how he got here,” LA fan account Lakers Guru claimed.
Others were more creative in expressing their disappointment, featuring video clips in their posts.
“Luka Dončić will never see an MVP trophy,” fan account Kyrie Center opined, along with a clip of a man visibly weeping.
Luka Doncic will never see an MVP trophy pic.twitter.com/M6bVs8XMdz https://t.co/74RJtFy0Vh
— Kyrie Center (@kyriecenterig) April 19, 2026
Another post from NBA personality @FeelLikeDrew featured an emotional LeBron James, alongside the caption, “Luka not even an MVP finalist.”
Meanwhile, The Pettiest Laker Fan simply called it as they saw it by saying, “Leaving Luka off this list is malpractice. 🤮”
Leaving Luka off this list is malpractice. 🤮 https://t.co/7IqCjSdZ7a
— The Pettiest Laker Fan 🤫 (@ThePettiestLA) April 19, 2026
Dončić finished the season with a league-leading average of 33.5 points per game. He also was up to his usual stat sheet-stuffing ways all season long, averaging 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, and 1.6 steals a night. He also logged a total of eight triple-doubles, the third-most behind Jokić (34), and Josh Giddey and Jalen Johnson, who tied at 13.
Despite not being an MVP finalist, Dončić is likely going to be named to one of the All-NBA teams to recognize his play this season. Still, his die-hard fans likely won’t see that as sufficient compensation for being left out of the final MVP conversation.
