The Dallas Mavericks are in the middle of the playoffs, losing 1-0 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round. However, this is not surprising since the team has yet to win the first game of the playoffs during Jason Kidd's tenure as head coach.
While the Mavericks are navigating the postseason, the NBA is handing out awards heading into the regular season. On Wednesday, the NBA Most Valuable Player results were announced. It was a noteworthy game for Mavericks fans, as Luka Doncic was selected as a finalist.
Nikola Jokic won his third MVP award and Doncic finished third. This came as a surprise to some Mavericks fans, but the Mavericks finished fifth in the Western Conference, and this award is typically given to players on their respective conference's top teams.
Read more: Lakers eye Dallas Mavericks assistant coach
Still, that doesn't take away from Doncic's great season. The 25-year-old averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game on the way to the Mavericks' 50-win season.
StatMamba also revealed some interesting statistics. Doncic joins NBA great LeBron James, star of the Los Angeles Lakers, in averaging more than 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game and winning the Most Valuable Player award while winning 50 games. do not have. These are the only two players in NBA history to check off these boxes and still fall short of the highly touted award.
Luka Doncic this season:
33.9PPG
9.2 RPG
9.8 APGHe joins LeBron James (2006) as the only players in NBA history to average at least 30/7/6 on a 50-win team and not win MVP. pic.twitter.com/AIbXtAFVhE
— StatMamba (@StatMamba) May 9, 2024
Again, it's not a shock that Doncic has underperformed this season. Jokic had another statistically great season. He led the team to the second seed in the Western Conference. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led his team to the No. 1 seed in the conference with a statistically superior average.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the only player in history to average more than 30 points per game and lead his team to the top of the Western Conference, but has yet to win the award. No matter how it's spun, someone will be ignored by MVP. That doesn't take away the benefits from the losers, but it does say a lot about how much talent the NBA currently has.
This also makes the matchup between Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander in the second round even more interesting. Both missed out on the MVP award. Both have something to prove and are constantly comparing themselves to each other. Pursuing championships is more important than hardware.
Doncic has had great video game accomplishments throughout his career, and it's only a matter of time before they translate into an MVP award.
Read more: The Dallas Mavericks have yet to win a Game 1 under Jason Kidd, but is that a concern?
continue mavericks game day For more information on the Dallas Mavericks throughout the NBA Playoffs, click here.
Follow Cade Kimble twitter.
