Austin Reaves Left Puzzled After Teammate Luka Doncic Continues Drop in MVP Rankings

Luka Doncic dropped to fourth place on the latest MVP Ladder on Friday..

Austin Reaves Left Puzzled After Teammate Luka Doncic Continues Drop in MVP Rankings

Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves (Image credits - Firstsportz)

In Short
  • Luka Doncic has dropped from second to fourth in the MVP rankings despite strong performances.
  • Austin Reaves expressed confusion over Doncic's MVP drop, suggesting he might need to score 60 points to regain traction.
  • The Los Angeles Lakers are on a 13-2 run since March, with Doncic averaging over 40 points per game during this stretch.

It is hard to imagine that a player of Luka Doncic‘s talent and skillset has yet to win an MVP award. To make matters worse, he has been in the top three in the MVP race just once in his eight-year career in the NBA. It looks like he may miss out on the top three once again with just two weeks to go.

The Los Angeles Lakers have shown no signs of slowing down since the turn of March. They registered another convincing 116-99 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at the Crypto.com Arena on Friday night.

Following their impressive win, Doncic’s good friend and teammate, Austin Reaves, spoke about Doncic dropping in the MVP Ladder on Friday.

He continues to drop in the MVP race, which is insane to me. I guess it don’t really matter, maybe he’s gotta score 60, I don’t know.

Austin Reaves in his post-match courtside interview

Luka Doncic has been one of the top performers in the 2025-26 campaign. He has consistently been battling it out with reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic in a three-way race for the MVP title for the majority of the season.

Prior to this week, Doncic was second to SGA in the MVP Ladder. However, he now finds himself behind Victor Wembanyama and Jokic as well.

The Lakers have gone 13-2 since the beginning of March, and much of it is due to the red-hot form of Doncic. The Slovenian had his first-ever 60-point game in purple and gold during this period. His 60-point game came on the second night of a back-to-back after his 40-point game against the Houston Rockets. Therefore, Doncic had scored 100 points in the span of 24 hours.

The game against the Nets was their first game after a six-game road trip. During this stretch, Doncic averaged over 40 points per game. No player has averaged such scoring numbers since Michael Jordan back in 1986. Hence, it is surprising to see Doncic drop to fourth in the rankings after the week he just had. It was so shocking that even Doncic was lost for words.

Fans react to Austin Reaves’ response to Luka Doncic’s drop in the MVP Ladder

At this point, Luka Doncic has to wonder what more he can do to be in contention for league MVP. The Lakers are on a good run, he is posting historic numbers, and playing much better defense as well.

Just like Austin Reaves was puzzled over Doncic’s drop from second to fourth in the rankings, the NBA community resonated with his comments across social media.

The NBA community were as puzzled as Reaves was in his interview. With two weeks and eight games to go, it remains to be seen what more Doncic should do to climb up in the rankings.

Dirk Nowitzki on Luka Doncic and LA Lakers

The Lakers are on a roll and are peaking at the right time this season. With their big three in Doncic, Reaves, and LeBron James playing at a high level and combining well, the Lakers can be a threat to the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs.

Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic are close
Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic are close (Image via Dallas Texas TV/X)

Former NBA champion Dirk Nowitzki said that teams may not want to see the Lakers in the playoffs.

Luka has been playing incredible basketball, on fire for weeks now averaging almost 40. He has his step back working and when the step back works, watch out other teams. He’s basically unarguable…. Is that a team you really want to see in the playoffs with 3 guys that can take over down the stretch? I’ve been impressed with them.

Dirk Nowitzki on NBA on Prime

After their win on Friday, the Lakers find themselves at third place in the Western Conference standings with a 48-26 record. Doncic may miss out on the MVP this season, but he will hope to make a deep run in the postseason this year.

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