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    NBA awards finalists announced: Lakers’ Luka Doncic will not be league’s next MVP
    • April 20, 2026

    LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic’s MVP hopes were dashed on Sunday afternoon when the NBA announced that the MVP scoring champion was not among the three finalists for the league’s top honor.

    Reigning MVP Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama were voted by the press as the top three candidates for MVP.

    Doncic, who successfully vied for a waiver to become eligible for end-of-season awards after not reaching the 65-game marker following his regular-season-ending Grade 2 left hamstring strain, is still eligible for All-NBA First-Team honors, which the 27-year-old guard has achieved five times in his career.

    The Slovenian star averaged 33.5 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds across 64 games, while shooting 47.6% from the field and 36.6% from beyond the arc, tallying more than two points more than any other player in the NBA, above Gilgeous-Alexander, who averaged 31.1 ppg.

    Doncic won Western Conference Player of the Month honors twice (January and March), helping the Lakers to a 15-2 record in March (of a 53-29 overall record), where he averaged a league-leading 37.5 points on 49.2% shooting across that span.

    Doncic surged for a 60-point performance against the Miami Heat during the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak that ultimately put them in position for a top-half seed in the West despite Doncic’s and Austin Reaves’ injuries. The Lakers’ leading scorer – by 11.2 ppg – tallied 14 40-plus-point games and had a 51-point showing to go along with his night in Miami.

    No Lakers players, nor coach JJ Redick, landed as finalists for end-of-season individual awards. The last Lakers player to win an end-of-season award was Lamar Odom, when he earned Sixth Man of the Year honors in the 2010-11 season.

    Here is how the full slate of individual awards finalists shaped up, with winners likely to be revealed in mid-May:

    Most Improved Player:Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta HawksDeni Avdija, Portland TrailblazersJalen Duren, Detroit Pistons

    Defensive Player of the Year:Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City ThunderAusar Thompson, Detroit PistonsVictor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

    Sixth Man of the Year:Tim Hardaway Jr., Denver NuggetsJaime Jaquez Jr., Miami HeatKeldon Johnson, San Antonio Spurs

    Coach of the YearJ.B Bickerstaff, Detroit PistonsJoe Mazzulla, Boston CelticsMitch Johnson, San Antonio Spurs

    Rookie of the YearKon Knueppel, Charlotte HornetsCooper Flagg, Dallas MavericksVJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers

    Most Valuable PlayerShai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City ThunderNikola Jokic, Denver NuggetsVictor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

    ​ Orange County Register 

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