Patrick Mahomes knows who his MVP is.
From one MVP to another (potentially)? Two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Patrick Mahomes was left in awe of the masterclass Dallas Mavericks superstar guard Luka Doncic had Tuesday night when the Mavs clobbered the Charlotte Hornets on the road, 130-104. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback was so impressed with Doncic that he hopped on his phone and voiced out his support for the Slovenian’s MVP campaign.
Patrick Mahomes believes Mavericks’ Luka Doncic should be 2023-24 NBA MVP
Doncic was simply sensational against the Hornets, as he dropped a game-high 39 points. He shot over 50 percent from the field, going 13/25 while also hitting eight of his 17 attempts from behind the arc. But scoring was barely the only thing that Doncic did to punish Charlotte. He added 10 points and 12 rebounds plus a block in the 35 minutes he spent stuffing the stat sheets. Daniel Gafford would have stolen the show on another day with his perfect 12/12 shooting from the floor to finish with 26 points, but Doncic still ended up being the talk of the town following Dallas’ latest success on the court.
Along with the video of a bucket in the Hornets game that allowed Doncic to set a new all-time, single-season record for points in franchise history, Mahomes posted it with the following message: “MVP.”
Although Mahomes is from a different sports realm, he can still recognize greatness on the basketball court, which he is seeing in Doncic. He is not wrong about the brilliance of Doncic being on an MVP-level this season. Without Doncic, the Mavericks likely wouldn’t have been able to secure a playoff berth, which they did with their win over the hapless Hornets. Dallas has another all-time great player in the incredibly talented Kyrie Irving, but Doncic is undeniably the rock the Mavs are set upon.
So far in the 2023-24 NBA regular season, Doncic is averaging 33.9 points while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 38.4 percent from behind the arc, with 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists per outing. He may end up falling short of averaging a triple-double this season, but he doesn’t need to pull off such an absurd feat to have a strong case to win MVP.
After winning the league’s Rookie of the Year award in the 2018-19 campaign, Doncic has finished inside the top 10 of the MVP voting in each of the following four seasons, including a top-four finish in his sophomore season and fifth in his fourth season in the league. In the 2022-23 NBA season, Doncic finished eighth. There is a good chance that, at the very least, he’d come in as a top-3 MVP vote finisher this season.
Apart from Doncic, other strong c0ntenders to bag the Michael Jordan Trophy are two-time MVP winner Nikola Doncic of the Denver Nuggets, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, who’s another two-time MVP, and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics. Each of those players has at least a good case, so Doncic is not without stiff competition for the honor.
Doncic, Mavs peaking in time for the playoffs
The win versus the Hornets extended the Mavericks’ undefeated streak to four games. They have also lost just twice in their last 17 games to move up to the fifth spot in the Western Conference standings.
Dallas can still catch up on the Los Angeles Clippers at No. 4 but that’s no longer solely in the Mavs’ control with only three games remaining in their schedule. The Mavericks will next take on the Miami Heat on the road this Wednesday before their regular-season home finale ion Friday versus the Detroit Pistons. They will play their final warmup for the postseason on Sunday on the road against the Thunder.
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