The NBA announced the 2026 MVP on Sunday morning and there was a shocking discovery.
No, it wasn’t Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning for the second straight year, it was the fact that fourth-place finisher Luka Doncic failed to receive a single first-place vote.
Zero.
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The Lakers superstar wasn’t expected to win the award, but he did lead the NBA in scoring this season with 33.5 points per game and won the Player of the Month Award twice.
According to the league’s official voting breakdown, Nikola Jokic finished in second-place and received 10 first-place votes. Victor Wembanyama finished in third-place and received five first-place votes. And Doncic finished fourth, earning one second-place vote, eight third-place votes, 60-fourth-place votes and 23 fifth-place votes from 100 media members worldwide. Cade Cunningham finished fifth.
A global media panel of 100 voters selected the winner of the 2025-26 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
The complete voting results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ki6ZYk5Tq9
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 17, 2026
Doncic had an incredible season, averaging 33.5 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 8.3 APG, 1.6 SPG, guiding the Lakers to the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
Lakers fans were quick to point out that Doncic didn’t receive a single first-place vote and voiced their opinions about it in the comments section.
The Lakers haven’t had a major individual award winner since Lamar Odom won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2011. The last Laker to win MVP was Kobe Bryant in 2008.
Need the internet to do their job and discover if the leading scorer in the league has ever received not a single first place vote for MVP, from all 100 voters. Not 1 thought Luka Doncic deserved a first place vote.
Unanimous. After averaging like 38 a game in the weeks before…
— 🏆LakersGuru🏆 (@GuruLakers) May 18, 2026
Only 3 of the Top 8 players in MVP voting also earned a nomination for a Defensive Player of the Month award this season:
– LUKA DONCIC
– Kawhi Leonard
– Victor WembanyamaHe also averaged 34/8/8, won the Scoring Title and had ZERO first place votes 😂 pic.twitter.com/aJuIJvbBk3
— LakersMuse (@LALMuse) May 18, 2026
Doncic finished first in the league in total point, points per game, usage %, total free throws made, free throws per game, three pointer per game, and points per 100 possessions. He also finished third in assists per game and sixth in steals per game.
Meanwhile, Doncic reportedly traveled back to Slovenia on Sunday where he plans to continue to recover from his grade 2 hamstring strain injury.
