Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers has been playing arguably the best basketball of his career, and while the team has been on a hot streak, winning 12 of their last 14 games, calls for the Slovenian to win the MVP award this season have only ramped up.
Doncic held high MVP odds before the 2025-26 campaign began, and while they dropped heavily through the first five months of the season, they’ve since bounced back up, as he now only ranks behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder as having the best MVP odds, according to most major sportsbooks.
Still, while Doncic winning the MVP remains unlikely, especially with his surge coming so late in the season, that hasn’t stopped the Lakers from making a case for him, referencing the award directly in multiple posts on X.
“Three letters,” they wrote. “Talk about it.”
Lakers Social Media Push For Luka Doncic MVP
Over the past few weeks, amid his historic run during their winning streak, the Lakers have been making a strong push on social media for Doncic to win the MVP award.
The team has made posts about his stats, accomplishments, awards, highlights, and overall performance this this season, with an increase of social media attention to him coming recently, as his name has been added to the MVP conversation.
Most recently, the Lakers announced that Doncic ranks in the top-three in the NBA in some of the league’s top categories, including points, assists, three-pointers made, 30-point games, 40-point games, rebounds per game among guards, and 30-point triple-doubles.
“Top 3 in 7 categories – let the numbers talk,” they wrote on Instagram and X.
Conversations have emerged recently regarding Doncic’s MVP case being strong due to the fact that he leads Gilgeous-Alexander in many statistical categories, which their post points to. While not directly referencing the reining MVP, the Lakers, like so many others, are bringing to the table the numbers that favor their star, rightfully so.
It might be a bit selective, but the team has been posting stats and news about Doncic at a higher clip since his name has entered the MVP race a few weeks ago, much more than they’ve posted about his teammate, LeBron James, who has broken several historic records of his own and is still arguably the most famous and popular player in the NBA.
Luka Doncic vs Shai Gilgeous-Alexander For 2026 NBA MVP
Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama, Jaylen Brown, and previously Cade Cunningham have all been near the top of the NBA MVP race this season.
The Thunder star remains the heavy favorite, but for the sake of the argument, comparing his stats to Doncic’s gives a bit more clarity on why Los Angeles is making a late-season social media push for him to take home the award.
In 60 games this year, Doncic is averaging a league-leading 33.4 points, along with 7.9 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.6 blocks in 35.9 minutes on 47.4/36.4/77.2 shooting splits while the Lakers are 46-26 and third in the Western Conference standings.
In opposition, in his 60 games, Gilgeous-Alexander is putting up 31.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks in 33.4 minutes on 55.5/38.8/88.8 shooting splits as the Thunder have gone 57-15 and are first in the West.
Going off the basic stats, Doncic leads Gilgeous-Alexander in points, rebounds, assists, and steals, but he’s still behind in MVP odds.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the odds-on favorite on multiple betting sites, despite the numbers all favoring Luka Doncic 👀
PPG: 🔸 Luka: 32.8 🔹 SGA: 31.6
RPG: 🔸 Luka: 8.0 🔹 SGA: 4.5
APG: 🔸 Luka: 8.5 🔹 SGA: 6.7
SPG: 🔸 Luka: 1.5 SPG 🔹
Team records could be another reason why the OKC star still has the edge, as his team has held either the best, or one of the best, records in the league over the entire season, and have been head of the Lakers in that department all year, too.
It’s a typical talking point that the best player on the best team tends to win the MVP award, but that’s been proven false on numerous occasions just in the past decade.
But while he doesn’t have the same counting statistics, Gilgeous-Alexander remains a much more efficient player than Doncic this season. His 55% field goal percentage would be second-best by a non-big man MVP in NBA history, and the fact that he does it taking a majority of his shots from mid-range is even more impressive.
But while he is still the favorite, and will likely win the award this year, just like with Jokic in years past, even if the Thunder sit atop the West, voter fatigue will likely start to come in. Though he might not win MVP this year, if Doncic can have even 90% of his performance this season in 2026-27 and the Lakers are still winning, it’s fair to say he’ll once again be in the conversation, and likely a top favorite.
What Doncic has done in his first full season in Los Angeles has been nothing short of spectacular, especially his strong play over their recent hot streak.
However, it might have come a bit too late, as passing Gilgeous-Alexander while he’s on his own historic two-season run, might be too hard to overcome, regardless of how much the Lakers’ social media team is pushing for it.
Los Angeles Lakers Shamelessly Push For Luka Doncic To Win MVP