Luka Doncic has been playing out of his mind.
And he might not make the All-NBA first team?
He has carried the Lakers to third place in the Western Conference. He leads the league in points (32.9 ppg). He’s third in assists (8.5). And he’s tied with MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for individual plus/minus at +8.1.
Most recently, he has led the Lakers to win nine of their last 10 contests, including six straight. In his last five games, he has had three triple-doubles, a 51-point performance against the Bulls and a game-winner over the Nuggets in overtime.
His revenge season is in full swing after the most shocking NBA trade of all time sent him from the Mavericks to the Lakers ahead of last season’s trade deadline.
Yet Doncic is fourth on the NBA’s MVP ladder. He has the fifth-best odds of winning the award, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. And ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins said he wouldn’t even give him first-team All-NBA honors in an appearance on “First Take.”
It would be a wild snub if he were omitted for first-team All-NBA.
There’s stiff competition for individual awards this season.
The league’s other front-runners, Gilgeous-Alexander, Cade Cunningham, Jaylen Brown, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama are all deserving of the league’s highest honors.
The Thunder’s Gilgeous-Alexander is the best player on the best team in the league. Cunningham has stunningly led the Pistons to the top seed in the East. Jokic is arguably the most dominant player in the world.
Brown stunned the NBA world by carrying the Celtics to second place in the East despite Jayson Taytum being sidelined the first 62 games of the season because of a torn Achilles. And Wembanyama is considered “not even human” by Brown and an “alien” by LeBron James because of his two-way skills.
So, what gives?
That’s a hard question to answer. But there’s no way Doncic doesn’t deserve to make that elusive team. He’s the most prolific scorer in the league and has carried a Lakers team with LeBron James and Austin Reaves in and out of the lineup to only trail the Thunder and Spurs in the West.
Lakers coach JJ Redick believes what Doncic is doing is being overlooked.
“He’s playing as well as anybody in the NBA right now,” Redick said after the March 12 win over the Bulls. “… It’s probably not being talked about enough. So I’m going to talk about it.”
Two nights later, after Doncic made an 18-foot step-back jumper with 0.5 seconds left to lead the Lakers to a 127-125 overtime win over the Nuggets, James called Doncic a “generational player.”
What happens over the next month could ultimately determine whether Doncic makes the cut for first-team All-NBA.
Doncic opened the season playing MVP-caliber basketball, leading the Lakers to a 15-4 start. After a rough patch extending from December through the first few weeks following the All-Star break, the Lakers and Doncic are turning heads.
If Doncic continues to play at his recent level, it would be hard to imagine him not being a first-team All-NBA player this season.
The Lakers are in the midst of a tough six-game road trip, with big tests coming against the Rockets, Heat, Magic and Pistons.
If Doncic can help the Lakers secure the third seed, creating more separation between them and the Rockets, Nuggets and Timberwolves, who are only 1 ½ games behind LA, the conversation around Doncic will need to shift.
Or else?
Perhaps it’s fair to wonder if Redick is onto something and Doncic’s feats need to be celebrated more.