The 2023-24 MVP honors went to Denver Nuggets’ star center, Nikola Jokić. Having been knocked out of the playoffs by the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, former NBA Coach of the Year makes a switch, crowning Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic as the Most Valuable Player had the voting happened now instead of weeks ago.
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Sam Mitchell, the 2007 Coach of the Year appeared on NBA’s Sirius XM Radio. While on the show, Mitchell claimed he would’ve voted for Luka Doncic and the regular season MVP over Nikola Jokić.
“Right now Luka Doncic, the way he’s playing against, he’s the best player in the league right now. If we have to revote and you get a vote—if you had to recast your vote right now, based on just the playoffs…If you had to recast your vote right now, who would it be?”
“The way [Luka Dončić] has played, he’s the best player in the league right now”@SamMitchellNBA makes the case to @BGeltzNBA why he'd have the #Mavericks superstar over Nikola Jokić if the MVP voting was held now. pic.twitter.com/bwdFZRNhzf
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) June 2, 2024
Brian Geltzeiler, a contributor at NBA TV, hosted the Sirius XM Radio show. Brian too went with the Slovenian guard as his choice for the MVP award.
Despite dealing with nagging injuries since the start of the postseason, Luka Doncic has pushed through and played through the pain for the entirety of the playoffs. Doncic and the Mavericks took down an older, more seasoned, and experienced Clippers side in the first round.
Then came what seemed to be the biggest challenge of them all, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were knocked out of championship contention in six games as well. Listed as questionable for numerous matchups, Doncic also played through injuries to knock out the sizzling-hot Minnesota Timberwolves squad. And now, the Mavericks aim to clinch their second NBA title in franchise history.
Former Slovenian NBA star on Luka Doncic
A Slovenian native, Luka Doncic was guided and mentored on the basketball court by Goran Dragic, a fellow Slovenian who made it in the NBA quite a few years before Luka was eligible for the NBA draft. According to BleacherReport, this is what Dragic had to say about the Mavericks star.
“He is only 23 years old, and he is playing like a veteran. He could score even 40 points in every game. He plays the game at his rhythm, he is very big, he can shoot, he can pass, he can rebound. I don’t know what else we can say about Luka, he is like…an astronaut. I think he could be [the best player in history]. He is still very young, but if he stays healthy and plays a long more time, I think that by the end of his career, he could be the best ever.”
With the Denver Nuggets out of the playoffs and the Dallas Mavericks moving on to the NBA Finals, the narrative has switched from Nikola Jokić to Luka Doncic as the best European player in the league. Winning a title against a 64-win Boston Celtics squad will cement Luka’s legacy in the league and worldwide.
