Has Luka Doncic’s reign begun?
Is this the year Luka takes over?
At least that’s what the NBA midseason survey predicts.
A select group of NBA beat reporters representing each of the 30 NBA markets has casted their votes and majority of them believe the Dallas Mavericks superstar will win his first Kia MVP award.
Although, the Slovanian bucket machine is not that far from the second-most vote-getter: reigning back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic.
Luka garnered 43% of the votes for the question, "Who is on track to win the Kia MVP award this season" while the Nuggets leader is three percentage points behind with 40%.
At this point in the season, no prediction is safe, but it’s not wrong to assume that Luka and The Joker are two sides of the same coin in this MVP race.
Doncic has had historical moments including a career best, never-before-seen 60-point, 20-rebound and 10-assist triple-double in a comeback win over the New York Knicks last December.
Jokic, on the other hand, also has a solid case for a third straight MVP plum (last achieved by Larry Bird from 1983 to 1986).
The Joker is averaging 25 points, 10.8 rebounds and 9.7 assists after 37 games.
Also, the Nuggets star was voted in the midseason survey as the “best international player in the league” with 38% votes, while Luka was third in the same category with 28%. That’s weird considering Doncic is also an international player.
At least the votes are consistent in the questions of best players by position, where Luka and Jokic dominated the numbers in the point guard and center spots. They each have 80% and 86% respectively.
Donovan Mitchell, with 62% votes, was dubbed best shooting guard following his 71-point explosion at the start of the year. The Cleveland Cavaliers guard is the seventh player in the 70-point club and is currently the active player with the highest scoring output in a game.
Forwards from the East completes the “best starting five” list.
Jayson Tatum from the league-leading Boston Celtics was voted best small forward behind 62% nods, and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo's 72% topped the power forward ranking.
Note that these unofficial votes are all from midseason action. It will most likely change over the next few months. After all, crazier things have happened inside the basketball court.