DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic was named one of three finalists for the NBA MVP award for the 2023-24 season.
Doncic was named a finalist alongside Denver center Nikola Jokic and Oklahoma City point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The announcement of the winner is still TBD.
Doncic led the league in scoring (33.9 points per game), was second in the NBA in assists (9.8 per game) and led all guards in rebounds (9.2 per game). He also finished second in three-pointers made per game (4.1). It would be Doncic's first MVP of his career if he won.
Gilgeous-Alexander would also be a first-time MVP, but Jokic is looking to win his third (2021, 2022).
This much is already assured: It’ll be the sixth consecutive year that an international player wins MVP, extending the longest such streak in NBA history. Giannis Antetokounmpo — of Greek and Nigerian heritage — won in 2019 and 2020, Serbia’s Jokic won in 2021 and 2022 and Embiid won last season. Embiid was born in Cameroon, though became an American citizen in 2022.
Finalists were chosen based on votes from sportswriters and broadcasters, and their ballots will be posted at pr.nba.com after the announcement of each end-of-season award winner.
The "Luka for MVP" train is coming fast down the tracks, with Cuban serving as the train's conductor. In the past few weeks, the former Mavericks governor has posted on X calling for Doncic to be named MVP nearly daily. Before Dallas' win against the Miami Heat, the entire team wore “Pravi MVP” shootaround shirts, which in Slovenian means "Real MVP" or "True MVP."
If Doncic wins, he'll become the second Mavericks player to do so, following Dirk Nowitzki in 2007 while leading the Mavs to a league-best 67-17 record.
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