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Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers in action during the first quarter of the game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on March 18, 2026 in Houston, Texas.
The Los Angeles Lakers announced Thursday that superstar guard Luka Doncic is questionable for Friday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets with left hamstring soreness. If Doncic misses the game, he’d have just four more missed games away from losing eligibility for MVP, All-NBA honors, and other end-of-season awards.
Doncic has thus far appeared in 61 of the Lakers’ 73 games. He must play in at least four more of his team’s final nine games to remain eligible. As such, Doncic and the Lakers face a tricky situation entering the stretch run of the regular season. On the one hand, they must try to ensure Doncic reaches the 65-game eligibility threshold. On the other hand, they can’t risk Doncic aggravating the injury before next month’s playoff run.
Luka Doncic MVP Debate
The debate surrounding Luka Doncic and the MVP award has sparked varying opinions from the NBA media landscape. While some believe the Slovenian rightfully belongs alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama in the tight MVP race, others believe Cade Cunningham and Jaylen Brown are more viable candidates.
Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas represents the latter group.
“To me, right now, there’s only two guys that you can really say is the most valuable to their team… and that’s Wemby and Jaylen Brown,” Thomas told FanDuel TV’s “Run it Back” on Thursday, while throwing shade at Doncic.
The two-time NBA champion proceeded to criticize Doncic for “whining” excessively.
“I’m calling ya’ll generation the whiners,” Thomas said. “Ya’ll whine a lot.”
NBA MVP Race Heats Up
The one factor working in Luka Doncic’s favor is that several other top MVP candidates still haven’t reached the 65-game threshold. While SGA needs to play at least four of the Thunder’s remaining nine games, Wemby still has to appear in at least seven of the Spurs‘ final nine games to maintain eligibility for MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. Elsewhere, Nikola Jokic can afford to miss only one of the Nuggets‘ final eight games, while Cade Cunningham needs to play four more games to stay eligible.
The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) has called on the league to drop the 65-game rule, citing the extenuating circumstances surrounding Cunningham, who played 61 games before suffering a collapsed lung.
“Cade Cunningham’s potential ineligibility for [end of] season awards after a career-defining season is a clear indictment of the 65-game rule and yet another example of why it must be abolished or reformed to create an exception for significant injuries.
“Since its implementation, far too many deserving players have been unfairly disqualified from end-of-season honors by this arbitrary and overly rigid quota.” the NBAPA’s statement read, via The Associated Press.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan
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