Has Luka Been Shunned By NBA's MVP Voters

Transcript

Setting The MVP Field

SPEAKER_01 0:00

But when it came to Luca and the MVP, you were one of the strongest advocates in regards to Luka as the MVP. Obviously, each and every individual in the top four has their case on why. We'll start with Nikola Jokic, who has those video game-like numbers. I mean, for a center to be averaging a triple-double, it's something that no other, I don't believe any other center has ever averaged before.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Yeah. There's just three guys still. It's just Oscar, Russ, and Nikola.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

So I mean, he's the tallest guy to ever do it, and and it's doing it with such great efficiency. And now that with Denver on such a massive winning streak and winning ways themselves, just coming into the, you know, they're getting all healthy at the right time, which is bad news for the rest of the NBA. Uh, I do want to mention, of course, uh Victor Wambiyama. He has provided his own video game-like numbers as far as when he's been in there that's helped spur, pardon the pun, the San Antonio Spurs to a monumental record way above. Nobody can come here and say that they planned this. Nobody can come here and say that they were ready to do this. If somebody cuts, you know, even Megan Um Price, who I interviewed at the beginning of the season to do a team preview of San Antonio because she covers San Antonio, even she, I don't think, thought of them at this level. They have exceeded all expectations, and a lot of that is to the drive and will of Victor Wembiyama. And then, of course, we have Shea Gilgis Alexander, who has led the team that has either been number one or number two overall in the league for the entire season. They got up to that amazing start, and he, of course, has that 20-point consecutive game streak now, all-time record. So, again, each and every individual has their case. You had stated on your channel exactly why you felt Luca was was going to be, or in your opinion, was the MVP. So I want to hear that out because the national narrative with these national NBA writers, to be quite honest, and and I think you've already seen it, differs a little bit from what you

Luka’s Case And The Backlash

SPEAKER_01 2:06

have to say.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

No, well, and it's and that was part of it, as you know, I think from our discussions and some of the stuff that I put out there, that was what really shifted me because in January and February, even though Luca was actually putting up just historically insane numbers the whole season, right? I mean, he was averaging, I don't, I think the lowest his average dipped was like 32.6 points per game at any point this season. Um, and he started off hot too, averaging, you know, above 40 the first five, six games of the season when LeBron was out and leading us to that historic start that we had going 10 and 2 and all that. And then in March, or really, sorry, going back to the end of February was when I saw just this. There was about a week to 10 days where it was pretty clearly to me a coordinated media attack to where you had Max Kellerman saying that the Lakers would should consider trading Luca. If I were the Lakers, I would give serious consideration to moving Luca. People like uh Bill Simmons trashing him on his podcast.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Luca's MVP finishes by year. This is his eighth year or eight, and he's not going to be in the top four.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

All the normal Kendrick Perkins, ESPN idiots saying, oh, this, that, and the other thing. All of this blame, all of this criticism on this guy who has had, you could argue he's had the best individual start to a career that any NBA players ever had. And a lot of these same people were just fawning all over him when he was with the Mavericks, talking about him being a top two player, universally top three prior to the trade. And then all of a sudden, he comes here to play with us, which is just an incredible blessing, gift of a trade, whatever you want to call it, by my guy Rob. Um, and all of a sudden, everybody's shitting on him. And I just had never seen anything quite like it. And then I expected him to respond to that by crumbling a little bit. And instead of crumbling, instead of trying to adjust his game and be submissive to the negative attacks, he put on that incredible show that you mentioned in March where we ended up going what 15 and 2, 14 and 2 in the games Luca played. He goes 10 and 1 in a stretch where uh he averaged personally more than 40 points a game for those 11, 12 games in the month of March, and just just carried us, carried a team that in February everybody said was dead, even us. We all thought it was, you know, the team was pretty much dead. We kind of felt the way then about them that we do now. And immediately, yeah, that wasn't LeBron, that wasn't even Austin Reeves, that what sure as heck wasn't JJ Reddick. That was Luca putting us on his back. And, you know, we talked about it on my show when he came on. Uh now in the month of March, the only two players ever to have 600 points in the month of March in the history of the NBA is Luka Doncic and Michael Jordan. And uh to me, when you really look at his numbers, like I think because this era is so soft and the defense has uh gotten so weak, and the rules and the pace and everything, there's a lot of crazy historic numbers being thrown out there so we're desensitized to it. But when you go and you look at it, in the history of the NBA in 80 years of basketball, there's been uh two players and four total times where someone's averaged at least 32 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. And that was Michael Jordan doing it one time, I think in 87 or 88, I think 88 actually. And then Luca has already done it twice. I think he would have done it again this season for a third time, and now he's injured and he's gonna be like 34, seven and a half and eight. But still, um, nobody has put up numbers like what he's put up, and I think it's ridiculous that he's not gonna get rewarded for that. So anyway.

SGA’s Steady Season And Narrative

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Well, but I will say this again, I'll phrase it, and I think JJ Reddick, you can argue about JJ Reddick all all you want and say this and say that. I'm not gonna uh say too much in deference to it because I still think that there's a lot of things that he says that are you know quite interesting indeed. But the one of the things I will go ahead and say he was pretty good on is the fact that he commented on Luca saying that he had the best first and third acts to the season. Well, until leading up to the injury now, yeah. Yeah, but it's that second act, though, that's the problem. And SGA, in my opinion, has had the steadiest of all the season because he's just been there, he's just been grooving, he's just been giving his thing, foul merchant, all you know, everything you want to say as far as it's concerned, but he has provided and been the best player on the best team season, best team this season most of the year. And Victor Wambiyama, you know, the the fact he hasn't played a whole lot, you know, comparing him and LeBron on their minutes was just eye-opening to a lot of people. I get that. And Nikola Jokic, like the Lakers, were down in sixth place at one point in time in this season. So it's been a little bit of peaks and valleys for Luca and and Nikola. And the one constant has been SGA and the OKC Thunder. And I think that's why he was going to get the MVP regardless of what Luca did in these past in these last two weeks.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Well, and and yeah, and I hear you on that. And I mean, SGA's been the pick since November, right? I mean, they kind of decided that. I mean, he went into the season a heavy gambling favorite, and he's remained there, and he's had an incredible year. I mean, I'm I really respect SGA. I try to actually be a bigger, I feel like I should be a bigger fan of his than I am, and I just I don't know if it's if it's just boring to me or to watch him play or what.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

He's not an exciting player to watch. He, I mean, I'm gonna just tell you right now, and and they tell you in Oklahoma City. My uh Caleb Ponce, who covers it, and I talked to him, he's gonna tell you he's not an exciting player to watch as far as slam dunks or scott, you know, give skying to the rim or amazing passes or what he's just really, really good.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

He's steady, and that's why he has that streak you mentioned because he's just steady, he's the same, he's crushing you every day the same way. So I yeah, I respect it, but honestly, and we talked about this um on my show as well, but I really don't like that the media sets who the MVP is going to be in November, December, and then spends the rest of the year trying to back up that opinion. So just like you said, actually, I might say that uh SGA had the first third uh MVP to me because they started out so hot, 30, what was it, 24-and-2 record for the team? He's averaging 32, 33 points a game in that stretch. And again, if you go back to look at uh what people were saying at that time and what the gambling odds were, I think I heard on Bill Simmons' show back then that the odds for the over-under for the team at that point was like 74 and a half. So you could actually get even money to say that they were gonna win less than 74 games, which is crazy. That's how hot they were, and now they're gonna end up, you know, being a mid-60s win team. So they really, and I know he, you know, his teammates had some injuries too. Um, you know, I understand he had some things to overcome there, and he himself was out for 12 games. But you look at it too, his team is so stacked in the 12 games he's missed, his team's eight and four.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

That's almost a detriment because they have so much quality depth on that team, that's almost a detraction from what he's doing. And I understand.

Jokic’s Rank And The 65 Game Rule

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Um, but you have you got Jokic third then still, or where do you have Jokic in this whole thing?

SPEAKER_01 10:01

I would have Jokic third in this entire equation. Again, like Luca. See, if you're basing it off the narrative that one time they were struggling during the course of this year, which in March, early in March and mid-March, they were Denver. And when LA started their rise, someone had to go ahead and fall because of it, and that was Denver. And Denver was at one time teetering on the brink of being in the play-in. And if that's the case, you know, you have to go ahead and put that into consideration. But because the fact that uh, you know, what happened with Luca not being able to finish up the season strong, you know, I think that you know, fourth place is about the best that Luca's gonna get at this point in time.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

It's depressing, but I I tend to agree. Although now, I mean, this is kind of segueing with the 65 game stuff that we're talking about. This idiotic rule is so destructive to the legacy of basketball that now Wimby's in jeopardy, like you said, he might not make 65 games.