How likely is Luka Dončić to win the 2023 NBA MVP?
The All-Star break ends on Thursday as the NBA enters the final leg before the playoffs officially commence,
With the season coming to a close pundits and fans are starting to consider who will take home the 2023 NBA MVP award.
Luka Dončić has to be considered a leading candidate for the award, averaging 33.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 50% shooting from the field and 35% from three-point range.
Dončić leads the NBA in points per game, but the Dallas Mavericks are in sixth place in the Western Conference and are currently riding a three-game losing streak.
According to pundits, Dončić is one of the few true NBA MVP candidates.
Michael Pina, The Ringer
Selection: Denver Center Nikola Jokić
Be it Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic, or Kevin Durant, Jokic is either more efficient, a vastly superior playmaker, or both. He’s as responsible for his team’s success as anyone in the league, without an overwhelming usage rate or need to pad his box score stats. He’s a season-high plus-63 in crunch time and the Nuggets are in first place. End rant!
Rohan Nadkarni, Sports Illustrated
Selection: Denver Center Nikola Jokić
All of this is happening while Jokić averages 25.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 9.8 assists a night on an absurd 62.7% shooting from the field. Joker’s efficiency is typically the kind of anomaly seen only in a science fiction movie. He’s shot under 50% from the field in a game only once this season, all the way back on Oct. 28. He shoots nearly 67% on twos, and as a team, the Nuggets’ effective field goal percentage is 6.6% better with Jokić than without him.
Also deserving: Luka Dončić, Mavericks; Jayson Tatum, Celtics; Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks; Stephen Curry, Warriors; Joel Embiid, 76ers; Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers
CBS Sports Staff, CBS Sports
And yet, six of our eight staff picks go to the same guy. I’ll give you a hint: He would be the first three-time winner since Larry Bird in the mid-eighties. Yes, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic would take home the award halfway through this season, our staff says, but there are also votes for Luka Dončić and Jayson Tatum, who should keep the MVP race interesting in the second half.
Media Survey, NBA.com
Selection: Dallas guard Luka Dončić
They believe the Boston Celtics will win the NBA championship, rectifying last season’s loss to Golden State in the NBA Finals. And they predict Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić will collect his first Kia MVP trophy.
NBA.com used the midpoint of the season to survey 30 beat reporters or columnists representing each NBA market, including two reporters in New York and two in Los Angeles. The reporters responded to questions about the best teams, players and coaches at the halfway mark.
Percentages are based on 30 total votes for each question.
1. Luka Dončić, Dallas – 43%2. Nikola Jokic, Denver – 40%T-3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee – 7%T-3. Jayson Tatum, Boston – 7%
Sandeep Chandok, Bally Sports
Selection: Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić
After going back and forth between Dončić and Tatum, the former ended up being the choice by the slimmest of margins.
Both superstars are putting up ridiculous numbers for their respective teams. Dončić is averaging 33.8 points (first in NBA), 9.0 rebounds (19th) and 8.8 assists (fourth), and Tatum is averaging 30.3 points (third), 8.3 rebounds (30th), 4.3 assists (47th) and 1.0 steals.
Bryan Kalbrosky, For The Win
Selection: Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić
There is simply no way to defend Luka Dončićwho just had a six-game streak in which he averaged 44.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, 9.8 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. He had three games in which he scored at least 50 points during that stretch, including a 60-point, 20-rebound triple-double. He is truly on another level right now, leading the league in points per game and assist percentage. It’s an MVP-caliber season for a player who will probably win multiple during his career.
Kurt Helin, NBC Sports
Selection: Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić
Luka Dončić wins our mid-season award not simply because of his insane raw numbers or his efficiency getting them — 34 points per game, 8.8 rebounds, 8.7 assists, 61.3 true shooting percentage — but also the workload he has had to take on to keep Dallas winning. Without a high-level secondary playmaker after Jalen Brunson chose New York, Doncic has had to shoulder an insane offensive load (his 38.6 usage percentage is second in the league).
ESPN Straw Poll Committee, ESPN
Selection: Denver center Nikola Jokić
As a result, Jokić was the runaway leader in the second edition of ESPN’s NBA MVP Straw Poll of the 2022-23 season, registering 77 out of 100 first-place votes and finishing with 913 total points, putting him in prime position to make history at season’s end.
