{"id":587783,"date":"2026-04-05T21:10:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T21:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/587783\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T21:10:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T21:10:20","slug":"how-luka-doncics-injury-changes-the-race-with-one-week-to-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/587783\/","title":{"rendered":"How Luka Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s Injury Changes the Race With One Week to Go"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NBA MVP race was completely flipped on its head over the weekend. <\/p>\n

During what was supposed to be a showcase between two leading candidates on Friday night, Lakers star Luka Don\u010di\u0107 suffered a hamstring injury<\/a> while battling against reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s Thunder. Soon after he limped off the floor the reports rolled in: Don\u010di\u0107 would miss the remainder of the regular season<\/a> for Los Angeles with his playoff status in doubt. It\u2019s obviously a devastating blow for his team <\/a>after the purple-and-gold dominated in March, and it stung even worse with the following day\u2019s news that Austin Reaves would join Don\u010di\u0107 on the sideline for a similar duration. <\/a><\/p>\n

It also eliminated Don\u010di\u0107 from postseason award consideration due to games played. As it stands the Lakers star has played 64 games\u2014one short of the 65-game minimum requirement to win any end-of-season awards. He plans to apply for an exception due to the fact that he missed two games early in the year for a family matter, but until the NBA issues a ruling on that Don\u010di\u0107 is ineligible for MVP, All-NBA and all the other season honors. <\/p>\n

In the past a late injury like this would put a dent in Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s MVP case. In our current reality, it completely takes his name off the list of candidates with only a week to go before the season ends and ballots must be cast. He joins fellow stars Cade Cunningham and Anthony Edwards as big names who might\u2019ve received MVP consideration if not for the 65-game rule. <\/p>\n

We recently checked in on how the MVP race was shaping up entering the final stretch of the NBA season.<\/a> In light of the Don\u010di\u0107 injury development, it makes sense to do so again. Here\u2019s how the MVP race is looking as we embark upon the last days of the regular season. <\/p>\n

5. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers<\/p>\n

68 games played, 27.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 5.7 apg, 47.9 FG%, 36.5 3P%, 86.4 FT%<\/p>\n

\"Donovan<\/p>\n

Mitchell has been consistently excellent for the Cavaliers despite heavy roster turnover in Cleveland. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Don\u010di\u0107 dropping out of the race means there\u2019s one extra spot to fill in the top-five voting. Mitchell gets the nod as a result. The Cavaliers star has been his usually stellar self offensively despite the heavy roster turnover Cleveland experienced this year. In every iteration of this year\u2019s Cavs\u2014with and without Darius Garland, with and without James Harden, with and without Jarrett Allen\u2014Mitchell lived up to his reputation as one of the NBA\u2019s most explosive, exciting scorers. He\u2019s also averaging the second-most assists of his career and ranks fifth in the NBA with six 40-point games. <\/p>\n

Mitchell hasn\u2019t enjoyed the kind of all-around excellent season his fellow candidates have. But he makes for an easy choice as the final name on this year\u2019s ballot. The Cavs desperately needed him to perform throughout the season and he consistently stepped up to the plate. <\/p>\n

4. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics<\/p>\n

68 games played, 28.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 5.3 apg, 47.5 FG%, 34.5 3P%, 79.7 FT%<\/p>\n

\"Jaylen<\/p>\n

Jaylen Brown added another 40-point game to his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 against the Heat last week. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Brown gets a bump up the ballot due to Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s absence, and it\u2019s deserved. The Celtics superstar has the strongest MVP case outside of the top three candidates after carrying Boston to a top-two seed despite starting the season with an unrecognizable rotation compared to last year. He has the counting stats and wins to rightly clamor for recognition on the MVP ballot. <\/p>\n

The return of Jayson Tatum<\/a> took away the possibility Brown could make a late-season push to finish near the top of the ballot. But he hasn\u2019t really missed a beat. Brown is averaging 28.2 points per game when suiting up alongside Tatum so far and his assists per game have actually ticked up compared to his season average. It was the best season of Brown\u2019s career and he earned this recognition, even if he\u2019s a few steps behind the leaders in the MVP clubhouse. <\/p>\n

3. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs<\/p>\n

62 games played, 24.9 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 3.1 bpg, 50.9 FG%, 35.0 3P%, 82.8 FT%<\/p>\n

\"Victor<\/p>\n

Wembanyama will have to push to make his case for his first MVP award this week. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Wembanyama\u2019s MVP case was plenty strong when he elected to spell it out for prospective voters<\/a> a few weeks ago. Since then he\u2019s only gotten better. In the five games since he first advocated for MVP, Wembanyama has scored 31.6 points and pulled down 16.4 rebounds per night. The Spurs star is backing up everything he said and rose to the moment on Saturday in a rare opportunity to clash with a fellow MVP candidate<\/a>, putting up a ridiculous line of 34 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks in an overtime loss to Nikola Joki\u0107\u2019s Nuggets. His talent and per-minute production are undeniable when it comes to MVP consideration. <\/p>\n

But the weak spots in his candiacy haven\u2019t changed<\/a>. Wembanyama has played over 350 fewer minutes than Joki\u0107 and SGA. He has the least all-around impact on the offensive end as a playmaker (even if his \u201cgravity\u201d is real). And, despite the recent scoring outburst, Wembanyama will still finish well below of what voters consider to be the bar for modern MVP candidates based on the last 10 years. San Antonio\u2019s superstar will be in this conversation on an annual basis as long as he\u2019s healthy but Wembanyama isn\u2019t quite there yet when stacked up against the two players ahead of him. <\/p>\n

2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder<\/p>\n

65 games played, 31.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 6.5 apg, 55.1 FG%, 38.0 3P%, 88.1 FT%<\/p>\n

\"Shai<\/p>\n

Will SGA bring home a second straight MVP award? | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

There is no flaw in Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s MVP case this season as one of two players to average over 30 points per game, the leading man on the best team in the NBA who makes an impact on both ends of the court. . The fact that he broke a few scoring records this season and kept a 60-win Thunder team afloat despite a steady diet of injuries dealt to his best teammates round it all out very nicely. SGA is the most dangerous scorer in the league on a possession-to-possession basis and it\u2019s difficult to see OKC in pole position without his talents buoying the roster night after night. <\/p>\n

Wrap all that up into the fact that SGA was, by far, the leader of ESPN\u2019s latest straw poll<\/a> and it seems all but inevitable he\u2019ll be a two-time MVP sooner rather than later. But in these rankings, he lands second. Because… <\/p>\n

1. Nikola Joki\u0107, Denver Nuggets<\/p>\n

62 games played, 27.9 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 10.9 apg, 57.1 FG%, 38.3 3P%, 82.7 FT%<\/p>\n

\"Nikola<\/p>\n

Joki\u0107 made a statement in the MVP race by outplaying Wemby on Saturday. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Joki\u0107 is on the verge of becoming the second player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounds and assists. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fact that hasn\u2019t gotten nearly enough recognition during the MVP race. Yes, Joki\u0107\u2019s case isn\u2019t ironclad the same way SGA\u2019s is due to a rocky midseason stretch (and generally uneven results in Denver). But a center leading the league in rebounds and assists is outrageous. And it\u2019s not even close! <\/p>\n

Joki\u0107 is averaging one full more rebound and assist per game than the next-highest players in each respective category. He will finish as one of four players to hit 800 rebounds; the other three have played at least 10 more games. Joki\u0107\u2019s 673 (and counting) total assists lap the field, with Cunningham checking in with 603 in second place. It will not surprise you to learn that Wilt Chamberlain was the last player to accomplish this feat over 60 years ago. <\/p>\n

The Denver star is also making a late push for serious consideration. He won an MVP statement game against Wembanyama on Saturday, finishing with 40 points and 13 assists while hitting his signature fadeaway jumper over the equally iconic outstretched arms of Wemby. In the last 10 games Joki\u0107 is averaging a triple-double of 25.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 12.7 assists. He\u2019s doing what he can to shove his greatness directly into all of our faces. <\/p>\n

SGA is an extremely deserving candidate who broke his own Chamberlain record this year. It\u2019d be a shame if he wasn\u2019t rewarded with an MVP. But Joki\u0107 leading the league in those categories and not winning MVP would be an even bigger shame. So, for us, he\u2019s sitting atop the leaderboard entering the last week of the season. <\/p>\n

More NBA from Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n

Listen to SI\u2019s NBA podcast,\u00a0Open Floor, below or on\u00a0Apple<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Spotify<\/a>. Watch the show on\u00a0SI\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NBA MVP race was completely flipped on its head over the weekend. During what was supposed to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-587783","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}