Luka Doncic is coming off another dominant season, but Draymond Green believes the Lakers superstar is running out of time to win his first NBA MVP award.
The four-time NBA champion made a bold prediction about Doncic’s future during a recent episode of The Draymond Green Show, suggesting the 2026–27 campaign could be his final opportunity.
“Luka will never win an MVP in the NBA,” Green said. “This is the last possible year he can win it.”
Green believes Doncic has reached a point where his incredible numbers are becoming the expectation rather than something that impresses voters.
“If Luka go average 34 points a game, they’re gonna be like, oh, yeah, of course Luka averages 34 points a game,” Green added. “And it’s like, JT can go average 30.
“They’re gonna be like, ‘Oh, yeah, we know he can average 30 points a game. Both of them can average 30, 11, and 8. Oh, yeah, we know they’re supposed to.’ Like, and it won’t be viewed as somebody else averaging those numbers. It’s like people get fatigued of it. The same thing happened with LeBron James. You can’t tell me he only should have four MVPs.”
Doncic certainly has the numbers to support an MVP campaign.
The Slovenian superstar led the NBA in scoring last season, averaging 33.5 points per game, but finished fourth in MVP voting.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ultimately secured his second consecutive MVP award, receiving 83 of 100 first-place votes after leading Oklahoma City to a league-best 64 wins.
Doncic’s availability also worked against him. The Lakers guard appeared in just 64 games and required a special eligibility appeal before a hamstring injury brought his season to an early end.
However, Doncic has already shown signs of picking up where he left off.
He scored 21 and 23 points in separate preseason appearances against Sacramento before adding 15 first-half points against Denver.
With the Lakers preparing to begin their 2026–27 campaign, Doncic will have another opportunity to prove Green wrong and finally claim the league’s highest individual honor.
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