10 Reasons Luka Doncic was wrongfully robbed of the 2024 NBA MVP

8. Had best defensive season of his career

Luka Doncic’s improvement on the defensive end has been noticeable dating back to parts of the last few seasons, but he’s played by far the most consistent defense of his career this season for the Dallas Mavericks.

Doncic has been moving his feet better in space this season, allowing him to use his weight advantage against opposing ball-handlers in dribble-drive scenarios far more often. This is yet another instance of how Doncic’s conditioning over the summer has helped him improve within the margins, as he’s been able to handle a much great workload defensively this season.

The stats back this up too, as Doncic has an individual defensive rating of 112.6 this season. For reference, Boston’s Jaylen Brown finished the season with a defensive rating of 112.2, and Brown is likely considered a far better defender than Doncic amongst most analysts and talking heads.

Doncic is by no means an elite defender and he likely never will be as he’d have to exert too much energy when you take into consideration the freight of responsibilities he has to take on for Dallas’ offense. However, with Doncic having an elite defensive performance against the Clippers in Game 2 of the first round, the national media is taking notice that Doncic is no pushover on the other end of the court.

Doncic projects as an above-average defender per other metrics as well, as he’s proving that he can become a complete player to help his team win games, even if he still has the occasional sluggish defensive performance. With Doncic defending at an above average clip, it’s ludicrous to see that he didn’t get more first-place MVP votes from media members.