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Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic has been an MVP candidate for several seasons now. Averaging at least 27 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists per game in every season since 2019-20, The Don is one of the most effective playmakers in the game. However, he’s never played beside an offensive threat like eight-time All-Star Kyrie Irving.
The duo has played just two games together, losing the contests by a combined eight points. Doncic averaged 30.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game, while shooting 52.5 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from 3-point range. Their debut as teammates saw Doncic recording his seventh-lowest usage rate of the season (31.9 percent).
In a vacuum, Doncic’s numbers are still highly impressive. Still, with Irving averaging 22.0 field goal attempts per game in the contests that he’s suited up alongside him, there’s a legitimate change that Luka’s MVP chances take a major hit.
Knowing that the acquisition of Kyrie will likely affect his chances of winning an NBA MVP award, Doncic says he would “rather have the championship than M.V.P.,” per The New York Times’ Jonathan Abrams.
He has to admit though, “if you win an M.V.P., it’s amazing, too.”
Keep in mind that Doncic, now 23-years-old, entered the NBA as the youngest EuroLeague MVP ever at 19. While the NBA MVP award certainly holds a different weight, winning an MVP award in the second-best professional basketball league in the world is meaningful, nonetheless.
Nobody has to wonder why Doncic would prefer a championship anyhow. Especially because in NBA lore, champions are more mythicized than MVP winners.
Any player, from the journeyman at the end of the bench to an international superstar, likely prefers that.
