Getty LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers dribbles the ball against Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.
Luka Doncic could be the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this season, at least if you ask TJ Kidd.
“Luka is so good man,” Kidd, son of Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Jason Kidd and television personality Joumana Kidd told Heavy via text message Wednesday evening.
“I hope he keeps doing his thing. He’s a stud. He has to be in the MVP conversation this season. It’s crazy what this kid can do at 20 years old with a basketball.”
For those keeping score at home: Doncic tied Jason Kidd for most triple-doubles in Dallas Mavericks franchise history with 21 in the team’s 109-103 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday evening.
Doncic finished the game with 26 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.
Worth noting: It took Doncic 119 games to tie the record. It took Jason Kidd, who is now retired and a Naismith Hall of Famer, 500 games to do the same thing.
With a 36-23 record and winners of two straight games, the Mavericks are currently in sixth place in the NBA’s Western Conference standings.
Luka Doncic in Elite Company?
Doncic is currently averaging 28.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 1.0 steal per contest for the Mavericks.
Now a college student living in Los Angeles, TJ Kidd tells me that while he’s impressed with Doncic’s performance during the 2019-2020 NBA season, he’s got other NBA players that are also in the MVP conversation. “My three MVP finalists for this year are Luka, Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and LeBron [James],” he told me.
“In no particular order.”
Those are big names on TJ Kidd’s list.
LeBron James & Giannis Antetokounmpo
Averaging 25.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 10.6 assists per game, LeBron James is having a monster season for the Los Angeles Lakers who currently sit at 44-12 and are on a six-game winning streak. James poured in 40 points while adding eight rebounds and six assists in LA’s 118-109 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. James will sit out Thursday’s game against the Golden State Warriors with a sore groin.
If you recall, James, 35, missed 17 games with a left groin strain last season. He first picked up the injury in a Christmas Day loss to the Warriors in 2018.
Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James injury is more complex than what has been initially reported, I’m told.
Per Lakers source: “LeBron could ‘rush back’ and return at the end of January. But he could very well be out until the end of February, or even longer.”
The NBA’s reigning MVP, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, another favorite of TJ Kidd to win the NBA’s MVP award this season, is also filling up box scores nightly. Currently averaging 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals per game, The Greek Freak has guided the Bucks to first place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference standings with a compiled 50-8 record and current four-game winning streak. In 38 minutes of game action Tuesday night, Antetokounmpo nearly notched a triple-double during the Bucks’ 108-97 win over the Toronto Raptors. He finished the game with 19 points, 19 rebounds, and eight assists.
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