Apr 11, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts before the game against the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

Ex-NBA Champion Makes Bold Luka Doncic Prediction

Originally posted on New Orleans Pelicans on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated Jul 23, 2025 4:38 PM ET

Luka Doncic had a whirlwind of a 2024-25 season. He entered the year as the MVP favorite after leading the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals a year ago. He had made five straight All-NBA First Teams and seemed like a shoo-in to be the next young player to win MVP.

But then, Doncic got hurt. He dealt with a few minor injuries early in the season before suffering a calf strain on Christmas against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Mavericks wanted him to come back after 3-4 weeks, but it was a 6-8 week injury. The Mavericks' front office finally had enough and decided to dump him to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis.

Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

It was a shocking trade to everyone in the NBA, but especially Doncic. He never wanted to leave Dallas, was going to sign the supermax extension once it was offered, and had just bought a new home in town. He took the trade rough, crying on the bench in his return game to Dallas, so the emotions of getting settled midseason were new for him.

Doncic was also recovering from multiple injuries, still, and wasn't in his best shape. It was a lot of circumstances surrounding all of what was supposed to be an MVP push. However, ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins thinks Doncic bounces back and wins MVP in the 2025-26 season.

Perk: "I'm betting on Luka Doncic to win the MVP next season" pic.twitter.com/8xgZuYDCmT
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) July 23, 2025

"I'm betting on Luka Doncic to win the MVP next season. This is the type of commitment that I want to see from a great player like Luka... And all the greats in the history of greats have went through some type of adversity, or went through some type of thing throughout their career where they had to have accountability for it, and we're seeing that through Luka right now."

Doncic has reportedly been putting in the extra work this offseason to try and get in great shape again. He entered the 2023-24 season in great shape, and he played the best basketball of his career because of it until injuries late in the season made him look bad defensively in those playoffs, and those injuries carried over into the 2024-25 season.

This article first appeared on New Orleans Pelicans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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