NBA Anonymous Player Poll makes Lakers' Luka Doncic case for MVP

NBA Anonymous Player Poll makes Lakers' Luka Doncic case for MVP originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of hurdles to get over as the postseason nears. They will have to stall out until Austin Reaves returns. Not to mention, Coach JJ Redick also has to manage LeBron James well so that the legend does not have to suffer an injury. The biggest question mark that still persists has to be Luka Doncic and his return. While he has technically been eliminated from NBA MVP contention, a lot of his peers in the NBA Anonymous Player Poll still want him to win.

Why players want Lakers' Doncic to win NBA MVP

The case for Luka Doncic is fairly simple. He has been playing out of his mind to propel the Lakers into championship contention. When Coach Redick put him on the court, a masterclass on the offensive side was to be expected. This is why they are fourth in the Western Conference standings and have won a whopping 52 games. A lot of his peers saw what he did for the Lakers organization and this is why he was third in the anonymous player poll for NBA MVP.

Doncic notched 8.2% of the from a total of 159 voters in The Athletic's Anonymous NBA Player Poll. The Lakers star was tied with Cade Cunningham and Jaylen Brown in this ranking. Who pulled ahead of Doncic? Well, it was some heavy-hitters who won the NBA MVP award before. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was heavily favored as he got 39% of the votes casted. Nikola Jokic was a distant second as he got 21.4% of the votes.

One anonymous player made it clear why Doncic is clearly the right pick for NBA MVP.

"I think what he's done with the team that they have is really ridiculous. With a lot of guys in and out, with Austin Reaves and LeBron James, who's really old now, and guys like Deandre Ayton, who you never know if he's going to play good or bad, I think he's doing an incredible job," he said about the Lakers star.

While Doncic's camp has filed an exemption for his NBA MVP eligibility, this is the least among the concerns that Lakers fans have. A lot of people just want to see him recover from his hamstring injury and play in the NBA Playoffs.

More Lakers News:

1. JJ Redick admits he does not want anyone to minimize the Lakers' regular season success

2. Bronny James' 41-point, 11-rebound, 15-assist G League Lakers stats aren't what they seem

3. Rich Paul gives concerning injury recovery timeline for Lakers' Luka Doncic