Basketball

“I think I can win MVP”: Mavericks star Luka Doncic explains why he’ll beat LeBron James and Giannis to MVP trophy this year

Samir Mehdi
|PublishedDec 25, 2020

“I think I can win MVP”: Mavericks star Luka Doncic explains why he'll beat LeBron James and Giannis to MVP trophy this year

Luka Doncic says that he can win the MVP this season but also reiterates that his main goal is to win a championship.

With the 2020-21 NBA season well underway, folks around the league are already gearing up to make their predictions on who will win what award by the end of the season.

Going into this season, Luka Doncic has been given the best odds to win the regular season MVP, ahead of players such as LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Steph Curry.

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Doncic winning the MVP this season is very much possible. Giannis likely won’t win a 3^rd straight time due to voter fatigue, LeBron James and Kawhi will most probably miss too many games to ‘load manage’, and Steph Curry’s Warriors may not even be a top 8 seed.

Luka Doncic believes he can win MVP honors

In an interview with Rachel Nichols, Luka Doncic dished on what his priorities going into this season are. Coming off of one of the most incredible sophomore seasons in NBA history, the hype around Doncic’s rise to MVP stature has been real.

Nichols built on this narrative and asked Luka if he believes he can win MVP. The confident 21 year old replied:

“I think I can do it. But that’s not my first goal. Far from it. My goal always is to win a championship. Hopefully someday we can achieve that.”

ICYMI: Luka Doncic predicted to win MVP by ESPN experts. Find out why it could matter in the actual voting. #MFFL #Mavs https://t.co/J40iJzrd7S

— The Smoking Cuban (@thesmokingcuban) December 22, 2020

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Many NBA analysts are quite high on the Mavericks going into this season. Many are predicting the Mavs to be the team closest to the two Los Angeles behemoths.

Luka Doncic is quite excited to play against LeBron James on Christmas Day

In the same interview, Doncic talks about playing the defending champs on Christmas Day. “I’m very excited. This is my first one and we play the champions. It’s going to be a fun day and a fun game.”

LeBron James was of course, Luka’s idol growing up. He modelled his game after the 4x MVP, and it shows.

About the author

Samir Mehdi

Samir Mehdi is a senior strategist for the NBA division at The Sportsrush. Ever since he was 13 years old, he’s been obsessed with the game of basketball. From watching Kobe Bryant’s highlights on YouTube to now, analyzing and breaking down every single game on League Pass, Samir’s passion for the game is unwavering. He's a complete basketball junkie who not only breaks down current games but also keenly watches ones from the 60s’ and 70s’ while also reading comprehensive books on the history of the league. Samir’s life revolves around basketball and he hopes that shows in his work. Aside from work, he loves to spend time in the gym and with his friends at social gatherings.