Next week, Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic will begin what could be his first NBA MVP-winning season.
The 27-year-old Doncic has come close to winning the award multiple times, especially in the 2023-24 season, when he finished as the runner-up to Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic, who has won the award three times in his 12-year career.
While Doncic the MVP award has proven elusive for Doncic so far in his career, he has stacked plenty of honors and accolades, including one unique award he was presented Thursday at Lakers practice.
Lakers Star Presented With NBA Award
Doncic is coming off one of his best seasons as a pro, winning the scoring title in a season he averaged over 33 points per game. During the 2025-26 season, Doncic’s first full season as a Laker, the All-NBA guard pulled off one of the most replayed highlights of the season in a game against the Utah Jazz. For that, Doncic was awarded the NBA ID Fan Favorites Handle of the Year award.
“We had an individual on our team win an award from last season,” head coach JJ Redick said at Thursday’s practice. “Luka won the NBA’s Handle of the Year for a very specific play.”
The play in question happened in Utah in a late November game last season. In that game, Doncic took off on a fastbreak, where he dribbled the basketball between then-Jazz big man Kevin Love’s legs before connecting with Jaxson Hayes on an alley-oop dunk.
Doncic won the award, edging out Spurs guard Stephon Castle, Clippers guard Darius Garland, Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, Kings forward De’Andre Hunter and 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, all of whom were nominated.
Is This Doncic’s MVP Season?
Doncic fans are hoping this is finally the year their favorite player takes home the Michael Jordan Trophy. Doncic’s draftmate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the back-to-back defending MVP, perhaps giving Doncic more motivation to win the award. Then there’s Doncic’s other draftmate, who just so happens to be his former teammate, in Jalen Brunson, who is the reigning Finals MVP.
That’s not to say Doncic hasn’t had a decorated career; he has more All-NBA First Team selections than Gilgeous-Alexander and Brunson but is still searching for the title and Finals MVP two of his top peers have in their trophy case.
Doncic will once again be met with ferocious competition for the MVP award, with Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama the prohibitive projected frontrunner for the award. That’s certainly not to dismiss Gilgeous-Alexander, who is coming off two straight seasons that have put the 28-year-old Thunder star in truly rare air.
There are also potential dark horse candidates for the award like Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards and Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who missed most of the 2025-26 season recovering from a torn Achilles tendon.
Doncic’s Lakers are in a unique position again. The franchise rattled off countless moves in the offseason in efforts to surround Doncic with talent best-suited to maximize his gifted skillset. If Doncic records his routine numbers while captaining the Lakers to at least 55 regular season wins, he could strongly position himself to claim his first MVP award.
Lakers’ Luka Doncic Wins Notable NBA Award Ahead of Potential MVP Season