Luka moves to 2nd in MVP Ladder
After his incredible 60 point performance, divorce Luka has moved to 2nd in the mvp ladder!
https://www.nba.com/news/kia-mvp-ladder-march-20-2026
He’s been averaging 34/9/8 in march with 2 steals
The pendulum has swung so much on Luka in like three weeks
That happens when you play better.
You’re telling me that maybe Luka and the Lakers winning 9 out of their last 11 games and being on a 7 game win streak might have something to do with the turn in public opinion?
11 out of 12 and 8 in a row*
People on reddit using “oh I’m sorry, you think it’s bad to change your opinion as more information comes out? 😏” to justify their insane knee jerk flip flopping
He’s had an absurd run in those three weeks. In the last 3 weeks (dating back to 2⁄28), the lakers are 11-1 in that time with Luka averaging 36.3⁄8.6⁄7.5 on shooting splits of 50/41/76.5 (fucking lmao please make free throws) and an average +/- of +10.4
Shai in that time is 8-0 averaging 29.1⁄4.8⁄7.5(!) on shooting splits of 56/42/(!)/89. They’re both incredible and it also makes sense that Luka has closed the gap especially with Jokic being 5-5 in that span averaging 26/13/11 on 58⁄29.7⁄87 splits
“These last two scorching weeks by Dončić can compare with the best two weeks this season of anyone on the list.”
No they cannot. Nobody did anything remotely alike this season.
One of the best stretches of basketball ever. And is being downplayed once again
Jokic averaged 35/13/11 on 68/48/86 shooting in November.
That doesn’t fit the Luka MVP narrative, so I will downvote you.
Had a 55/12/6 on 91.5% TS, also a 56/16/15 on 90% TS. He had a 30/20/10 game a week ago (his third this season) and no one even mentioned it.
Okay but other than the times the other great players of the league put together an incredible couple weeks
SGA is consistently great and has the better team record but I’d not be upset in the slightest if Jokic wins another. The trouble for him is the team record and if you’re considering him you might then consider Luka instead but he lacks the advanced stats of Jokic and SGA.
To be honest, between the three of them I wouldn’t really mind either way.
Jokic would have a much better chance if his november happened at the end of the season
Jokic has been well below his standards since returning from injury. Similar numbers on the stat sheet but massively more inefficient both with shooting and turnovers. He honestly shouldn’t be any higher than 4th behind Shai, Luka, and Wemby.
Is this even Luka’s best stretch ever? From around Christmas of 22 through January of 23, he averaged about 40 and had multiple high scoring triple doubles, including a 60 pt 21 reb 10 assist.
He’s always being downplayed. Which when compared to Jokic, maybe SGA, I guess I understand, but he’s consistently doing generational things and being compared to just good players.
I swear Luka was averaging like 40 at the start of the season too
Yeah, I’m not as floored by people saying, he’s hotter now than almost anyone ever, when he’s done it before as I am that there a people who legitimately say he isn’t a top 3 player currently.
Like Shai has higher efficiency, but on roughly 2 less points, assists and rebounds per game, less steals as well. I won’t fault people who would take Shai over Luka, but it’s wild how many people act like Luka isn’t elite because his FT% isn’t great.
People love to be so hyperbolic.
The guy can’t help himself. He really can’t. Don’t forget he refused to move Jokic off #1 on the MVP ladder even when he got injured, stating that it was still Jokic’s award through and through because he was THAT good.
He had a q and a here a few days ago and i asked him what luka needed to do to win the mvp.
He answered that scoring more wont help his case. Maybe get the lakers to the 2nd seed.
Forever moving the goal posts for luka.
Because it’s actually a true statement
Reminds me of 2019 January James Harden when he just went nuclear. Also did not win MVP that year
Ok but a 2 week stretch should not have you just magically win mvp. Shai has been playing more winning basketball for longer, this season
Defence matters…
Why do morons keep saying this who clearly aren’t watching Luka play defence every night?
Let ask those saying luka is bad in defense , why don’t opposing players hunt luka to score 120 points.
Probably because Shai has a higher defensive rating and a higher offensive rating
The majority of defensive stats are very team dependent.
Womp womp
Basketball is a team sport
And MVP doesn’t just go to the best team. We had 2 6 seed MVPs in Russ and Jokic in the last decade.
They didn’t deserve either of those MVPs
They absolutely do. It’s the Most Valuable Player award not the best player on the best team award.
MVP isn’t the best PRA award either
SGA is having one of the best seasons for a guard in NBA history…..YES better than Luka historically and every other way. The only way you can think Luka is #1 of you close your eyes and literally refuse to acknowledge SGAs game.
The only argument SGA has is team record. That’s it.
Same as in 2024. I still cant believe a 34 9 10 finished 3rd while shai finished 2nd 31 4 5
If you think record is the only argument then your are genuinely hopeless as a fan
The gap in efficiency is MASSIVE, SGA is more efficient than the year Curry got unanimous MVP year, he’s a pg and is about to have a season as efficient as prime Shaq. Luka has no argument at all
The gap in playmaking between Luka & SGA is also massive.
The gap in defensive rebounding between Luka & SGA is also massive.
Spoiler alert — players excel in different things.
Me when people account for things other than the three numbers I can comprehend😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
I think being all NBA first team in 6⁄8 years in the league is actually more impressive than winning 1 MVP. Luka is on track to have at least 8-10 all NBA FIRST Team selections in his career. He would already be at 7 if not for his injury riddled season last year..
Wait, other than his rookie year, has he missed first team?
Last year due to games missed
Can we all take a beat real quick between tearing down one or another of the MVP candidates and just appreciate how fucking great basketball is? SGA is breaking Wilt records, Jokic continues to redefine the game, Luka looks like an actual videogame basketball player, Wemby looks like a videogame character but some scifi monster that’ll kill us all, JB took a foregone rebuild year and dragged his team to second in the conference, Cade has a young team in Detroit looking terrifying. The league is in incredible hands right now.
Such an incredible season this year and it’s again devolving into shit flinging for the MVP race. Sad to see
Truth nuke
SGA broke multiple Wilt records?
Finally someone else is pointing this out. We are witnessing the next generation of superstars entering their primes
i was watching highlights of a game from 2017 the other day and was shocked at how much worse it was. the game is a lot more fun now. the difference between then and now is that the actual best players back then were better and more fun to watch than now(curry/LeBron…). but these guys ain’t so bad
yeah, you can watch some role player now do some nonsense that 35 years ago would have made them an all star, the depth of talent now is just so must higher than past eras.
And so it begins 🤣
This sub about to be toxic af
💩👩🏻🚀🔫👨🏿🚀
That’s why im just appreciating the Wemby love rn too
Its because the media largely want to manufacture a race after Nuggets slide and Wemby not being god mode for a couple of games.
Luka has been great and the Lakers have been impressive, but its a race for second.
Had Luka done this the whole season it would be a coin toss between SGA and Luka.
I didn’t know it was the March MVP award
So Luka has one month better than sga and everyone thinks he should be over him?
Luka has a case for being the best player in the league since the turn of the calendar year. He’s really only had one bad stretch in December (which we now know was when the custody shit first started) and then the media decided to latch onto the “is Luka THE WORST WATCH IN THE LEAGUE?” talking point for a few weeks out of all star break for whatever reason. Outside of that he’s been pretty damn great all season
Sga still has a much better team around him even with the injuries especially on defense. We had Reaves and LeBron injured with a tanking team cast around Luka for a long stretch.
If you swap teams of Luka and sga Luka would hands down be the MVP.
SGA has also dealt with a lot of injuries, tbf, especially with J dub, but there’s no denying the OKC team is better than LA as a whole. Much higher floor due to defense and athleticism of the roster imo.
Yeah I am not discounting the injuries of OKC but like you said the whole roster of OKC is so much better that injuries to them matters less with their depth. Our depth with Reaves and LeBron gone is garbage.
Okc is so good we’d kill to have one of their 6-8th man as a starter lol
Idk how you’re getting downvoted. Luka on the thunder would be incredible
That team is a defensive juggernaut.
That team is basically the 23-24 on the strongest steroids. Luka + this OKC team is easy favorite to win it all. In that team nobody will care about his defense and only appreciate how great an offensive player and playmaker he is.
The OKC boys are very insecure i guess + Lakers hate. Funny thing is if nico is still around at the mavs there would be more people vowing for Luka MVP if he’s playing the way he is. It’s just narratives in the end I guess.
Hes been better than him all year.. All SGA has is that his team is 1st in the conference..
Shai definitely has a legit huge efficiency advantage as well
So efficiency > ppg, rebounds, assists and playmking? Is this the only argument?
You said ‘all Shai has’
I was just pointing out you were wrong and that he also has a massive efficiency advantage
He also has a huge defensive gap and consistency
lol how has he been better all year when SGA is an excellent defender and Luka is dog shit? Their offensive numbers are comparable. Their defence is not. And their record is not. The formula obviously puts SGA first lol
Buddy, the “Luka is awful at defense” narrative has already been proven wrong. Hes an average defender, even the fucking stats back it up. Plus Luka is better at rebounds, assists and playmaking.
Omfg go away you annoying troll everyone here has eyes you don’t need to comment on everything I say
So dumb
20-1 and like a +15 when he’s on the floor just to move down on the MVP ladder lmao
MVP ladder is a hot and cold thing. SGA broke wilts consecutive 20pts a game record. He’s locked it up.
That record is completely meaningless for MVP
You don’t value consistency?
Because someone else has played better
Spurs just won 20 out of the last 22 games, while Wemby has elevated his game offensively in the final stretch
Spurs are 10-2 against OKC, Detroit, Boston and Lakers this year.
Defensive Player of the Year by a mile
MVP campaign started day one when he obliterated Dallas in front of the whole world
How do you put Luka over him?
Coz spurs played well when wemby got injured
If Wemby wins, he’d be the youngest MVP ever. The media is underrating him because they expect that he’ll win a few in his mid career before voter fatigue sets in and they don’t want to be in a situation in a few years where they have to say “well we can’t give him MVP when he he is CLEARLY the best player because then we’d have to give him his 5th in a row.”
So while the race is competitive, they’re gonna prioritize guys like Shai and Luka, who also deserve it. It’s unfair because the future isn’t certain. Duncan only won two MVPs before his knee injury really started to slow him down, but I think he’ll take 5 chips any day.
He deserves it but I’m glad this happened moreso cause it’ll hopefully stop people from constantly whining about him being 7th or whatever on the mvp ladder
Well now they’ll just whine he isn’t number 1 lol
If there is one thing Luka stans take inspiration on, it’s whining
looks like I’m gonna have to continue what I’m doing lol
You’re 38 years old
you are wrong by exactly a factor of 2
Damn that’s old as fuck. 76??
I’m actually 76 in dog years
I would have a problem with it, if they whine about him being 2nd, but him being 7th was definetly ridiculous.
Yeah ngl that shit was stupid but Jokic, Wemby and for a while Cade deserved to be above him
Cade did not at any point deserve to be above Luka
now people will just whine that he got “robbed” when he doesn’t win
tbf some of that delusion just comes with being a fan. You probably felt shai deserved the MVP in 2024
Like that shit wasn’t outrageous
It was but so was the incessant whinging
I find the whining about his whining more obnoxious tbh
Well I find the whining about the whining about the whining more… wait what were we talking about?
Hopefully not ice cream I really need to cut down on that
^ bro is larping Luka
The reason people were complaining was the guy that posted the MVP ladder specifically cut off the list so that it wouldn’t show Luka lol. If he was fifth the post would be “top 4 MVP.” If he was fourth it wouldn’t be “top 3,” and if he was sixth… you get the idea.
Bullshit
7 games behind the Spurs after Wemby continues carrying his team on both ends and passes him up. Sure lmao
Wemby is still young and needs to pay his dues. Luka deserves this one.
Wemby will have multiple mvps in his career
What does this even mean? You just said complete nonsense…all that matters is who is better and more impactful this year?…
This is what they said about Luka when he was younger and now people bitch he’s never gotten one. Paying dues isn’t a thing if you’re just simply better than other people like Luka was then and Wemby is now.
Thing is Wemby isn’t better than other players. Sga Luka and Jokic are still on a different level compared to him
They aren’t tho. They just score more points. And mostly bc they play more minutes.
You can say SGA is more consistent. You can say Jokic and Luka have a deeper offensive bag. But Wemby is dropping close to 30⁄10 when he plays 30+ minutes in addition to the other end of the floor.
Like if you just watch all of them play and you watch how teams react to them all play Wemby is on the same level. There’s no player that impacts every single play and every single possession on both ends of the court like him.
Noone asked vemby to play less minutes
And if you want to make the argument that playing more minutes is an important factor that’s fine. But that wasn’t what they said.
They said Wemby wasn’t on that level when he clearly is
SGA’s season averages are way lower than they could be due to sitting out 4th quarters.
SGA should win mvp this year tho “way lower” is exaggerating lol
My whole point was just that Wemby is already as good as the best players so saying he has to pay dues or reach another level is dumb. There’s no real argument you can make based on his actual play
I mean he basically is playing 30 minutes. 29.4 mpg. SGA is on 33.5. Jokic is on 34.7. Luka is on 35.8. The offensive difference with Jokic is 4 points, 2 rebounds and 8 assists. Difference with Doncic is almost 10 points and 6 assists. That is more than just 4-5 minutes of being on the field difference. I mean these two guys are offensively in a completely different stratosphere compared to him. 51% from field at probably almost 230cm tal isn’t all that great. Offensively of course he is the best out of the three, but not really cause of his insane defensive skills. It’s simply cause he is the first player ever at that size that can move like that. He is not some lockdown defender. On the perimeter i don’t expect him to be, but even in the torch one on one he gets torched often. As good few centres had career nights against him. Saying all that, Wemby is still young and has a great team around him and a lot of space to improve. But these guys are still professors of basketball compared to him. Hell even a healthy/playing Giannis is above him.
Neither Luka or Wemby is winning MVP
How many times does this need to be posted
I imagine this the first time people who aren’t chronically on Reddit has seen this
/u/Vitex1988
It’s okay guys luka never go back to finals again like James harden
What playing for the lakers do for you
Amazing stretch by Luka. But him getting 2nd would be a joke. That Laker hype machine in full effect.
Idk why spur fans are so pressed your guy’s gonna win like half a dozen MVPs while this might be all the 25+ superstars’ last chance
The “he will win it later, just give the other guy a chance” spiel leads to situations like Duncan never winning a DPOY award.
As someone who watched all of 2000s b-ball, I consider Duncan to be the best defender of that decade. He made All-NBA first and second defensive teams in every single year. Ben Wallace was great in the first-half decade, and Dwight in the latter half, but Duncan’s been great the entire decade. That kind of consistency means more to me than a DPOY award. No bias from a Kobe/Shaq era fan here.
but we all know hes a great defender winning dpoy wouldnt exactly change his placement on great defenders
Wemby hasn’t even played better than Luka this season. I don’t care what the team records say, that doesn’t make one player better or more impactful than another.
At the end of the day I don’t understand why there is so much talk about who finishes second, fourth, or fifth. Why does it even matter when all that counts is the winner of the award?
As amazingly as Wemby has played this year, he hasn’t touched the level of SGA or Luka on a consistent enough basis.
Yeah what you said makes sense if defense didnt matter. But it does so what you said is just wrong
Defense matter and so does playmaking, clutchness, roster around you, running an offense and many other factors. It’s an interesting debate for sure but my opinion is that Luka is so incredibly superior to Wemby on offense that I don’t think Wemby compensates the difference by his defensive presence.
I can understand the opposite point of view but Luka really is leagues above Wemby offensively speaking and I feel this is not acknowledged by Wemby fans at all.
I slightly disagree with the claim that Luka’s offense is so massively superior to Wemby that his defense doesn’t compensate. If you normalize their stats per 75 possessions, the point difference between Luke and Wemby is only about 4 points, while putting Wemby ahead for every other stat except assists (definite kudos to Luka in playmaking).
The DARKO and LEBRON models both weight defense a bit more and Wemby is ahead in both of them. In total LEBRON, he actually tops the leaderboard and is 5 places (and two points) higher than Luka. For EPM, he is slightly ahead in both expected and actual.
Even if we ignore their ages, I am also personally taking Wemby over Luka straight up to anchor my team. There are players who can match Luka’s offensive acumen (Shai, Jokic, healthy Kawhi) but shutting down the other teams interior offense is a disruption that only one player provides.
So, if Luka or Shai wins the MVP, I’m not going to be mad, but I think it’s an overstatement to say that Wembys defense doesn’t cause him to match Luka’s value when the stats tell a different story.
Defense wins championships, but usually not MVPs
Not funnier than wembys joke
Spurs fans complaining about who comes in 2nd in an MVP race is such a Spurs fan thing to do.
It’s right in line with Lakers fans thinking Luka is MVP and the Lakers are championship favorites because of a two week heater. I honestly missed your guys’ homerism, I’m happy for y’all lol
Felt decently quiet all season right? Glad it’s coming right before the playoffs.
As opposed to Lakers fans crying about who is 3rd and 4th?
Yall got Wemby and started acting real different. The humble SA fans are long gone it seems
Brother I’ve been around way longer than youve been a Laker fan. Dont ever get me mistaken for these new age Spurs fans lol
Oh gee thanks 2nd
Absolute bullshit
Told you
“They hated him because he spoke the truth”
“After telling everyone Luka will finish 2nd in MVP voting ___ times, he has indeed finished 2nd in MVP voting”
this post will hit like crack
I have no problem if he finishes #2 or even #3. My problem is when he didn’t even finish as a runner up 2 seasons ago because his team wasn’t that good(but they gave Jokic/Westbrook MVP before) but keep putting Jokic over him(Yes his stats are crazy but his team hasn’t been that good) or saying JB/Cade/Ant is better.
Doesn’t matter what Luka and Jokic are gonna do till the end of the season, SGA is winning it
I want him to win.
Good.
Mickey Mouse March is more important than the rest of the season.
Luka deserves to be 2nd. The Spurs went through a big stretch with Wemby missing games and coming off the bench, and they had a great record for both.
He was averaging 35 before yesterday, then dropped 60, but somehow his average went down? Check your facts OP.
He’s averaging 37 in March.
Jalen Johnson is fun but 7 above Ant and Dmitch is laughable
Needs to be higher
He still doesnt touch SGA. Offence for Luka MIGHT be slightly better (I disagree, as SGA is ultra efficient and doesnt turn it over like Luka) but SGA defence is miles ahead of Luka.
Offense for Luka isn’t slightly better, it’s definitively better lol.
How exactly? SGA plays 3 quarters half the time. Luka 33⁄8 with 4 TO’s a game. SGA 31⁄6.5 with 2 TO’s a game on better efficiency. Try harder and do some research. LOL
They don’t care for the numbers, it’s Lukas “turn”
SGA only plays 2 less minutes per game dork, “3 quarters half the time” the irony of telling someone to do research when you’re making shit up is incredible
SGA’s per 36 points is 33.9 vs Luka’s 33.6, assists are 7.1 vs 8.4, and turnovers 2.3 vs 4
And Wemby’s defence is miles ahead of either of them combined on a double team. Defence doesn’t count as much for MVP and that’s why Luka snuck in there.
Also, let’s just stop pretending that MVP is an objective award. It’s a subjective media narrative. We need to stop coping.
Since when are the awards an objective one? How exactly can you make it objective? Just us PRA, Advance stats, etc?
Lmao, Luka is A LOT better than SGA.
How exactly? Just saying it doesnt make it true.
You can’t tell me this guy is more valuable to the lakers than JB is to the Celtics. Especially when Legoat exists on the lakers.
I mean second is pretty fair, pretty tough pick between Luka and SGA at this point imo and SGA has had the more consistent season (on a better team, yes, the eternal debate.)
Not even the third best player in the NBA. SGA, Wemby, Jokic
Lol wemby in this conversation.let him play playoff once
Agreed.
Right. Lukas having a great season, but in hindsight teams would choose those three ahead of him
Right now the lakers and the thunder are separated by like 10 games
If the lakers cut that gap down to like 5 or 6 and Shai underwhelms to close the season while Luka is just still dominating i think he could sneak it
If the lakers cut that gap down that close it almost certainly means the spurs are in first in the west at which point Wemby has to be MVP after increasing a teams win by 30 in a season. No path for Luka to be MVP
This might actually happen, OKC has harder remaining schedule than San Antonio. They go against Celtics, Knicks, Pistons, Nuggets and 2x Lakers while Spurs have two games against Denver and the rest is much more manageable.
Technically Dylan Harper is responsible for that then
Victor missed half of last years games
In that case, Wemby would be the MVP.
Imo Luka has been the best player in 2026 but also the gap between him and SGA was larger in SGA’s favour during the first half of the season so SGA is still the deserved front runner. But who knows if Luka keeps it up rest of the way
Recency bias is a hell of a drug because there is only a max of 29 games left after All-Star Break so 70% (51 games) of the season was already done and ppl think if you go hard for 2 months after the break it makes you even.
Won player of the month in January. Been playing at a very high level all year other than an injury spell before the all star break and has exploded since. People are for some reason taking a few weeks of sub par (for Luka) games in December and pretending like that was months of poor performances
He’s playing exceptionally well right now and putting in a defensive effort that was vividly absent before the all-star break. He’s more efficient over the last month and I haven’t checked but probably averaging less turnovers. I know most ppl only focus on offense but his issue was everything else and if he was doing this earlier in the season he would have a real shot at mvp. I even had him as my mvp favorite before the season started but long story short its too late for that now.
The turnovers I’ve never really cared about. Sometimes he gets sloppy granted but a fair few are lower percentage passes that essentially are free baskets if they connect (lobs or transitions passes). Really no functional difference to just a missed shot but looks ugly on the box score. And he handles the ball a ton so turnovers will always come with it
He’ll never be better than the face of the OKC dynasty though. OKC sweeps lakers this year if they play
Hickass flyover town has one championship talking about “dynasty” like you’ve ever seen one lol
Don’t you know? 1 ring is a dynasty according to the 08 celtics
Stay classy Lakers fans
It’s definitely the Thunder fans in here not being classy
I don’t know why you’re saying that like our fan didn’t antagonize him?
OKC fans can also be dumbasses, but at least that comment was about basketball. OKC def isn’t a dynasty. But comparing that comment to the person calling us a “hick ass flyover state” is not the same.
You’re going to see OKC repeat this year little ahhh boi
Should be first
Should have been #1
Turns out the season is longer than the last 2 weeks
Luka has been incredible the full season.
Sure. He has been worse the Shai over the course of the full season as well.
Like statistically or based on vibes?
Both
By both you mean making stuff up?
¿Por qué no los dos?
False.
100%, imagine his stats if he was surrounded by the team SGA has
“If”