Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has been nominated for the Best NBA Player award at the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award show.
The ESPYs, which have been held every year outside of 2020 since 1993, present a plethora of awards to athletes at the top of their fields.
A total of four players were nominated for the award of Best NBA Player.
Other players nominated for this award include Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.
Doncic is coming off the best year of his NBA career after leading the Mavericks in multiple major statistical categories, averaging 33.9 points, which also led the NBA, 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
In addition to stuffing the stat sheet, Doncic finished the season with multiple awards added to his resume as he was selected to his fifth consecutive NBA All-Star game and fifth consecutive All-NBA First Team.
The Slovenian guard also finished in third place for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, finishing behind just Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander in voting.
Other feats completed by Doncic during the NBA regular season include leading the NBA in “35-point games (32), 40-point efforts (13), 30-point triple-doubles (16), 35-point triple-doubles (11), 40-point triple-doubles (2) and 20-5-5 games (60),” according to a Dallas Mavericks news release from Doncic’s All-NBA First Team selection.
Doncic’s impressive play continued throughout the NBA Playoffs despite playing through multiple injuries, as the Mavericks made it all the way to the NBA Finals before losing in five games to the Boston Celtics.
During this playoff run, Doncic once again led the Mavericks with averages of 28.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, 8.1 assists, and 1.9 steals.
Doncic’s nomination for the best player in the NBA is now the third time he’s had a chance to win the award, with the previous two nominations coming in 2021 and 2022.
Despite being nominated for these awards, Doncic lost to Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry in both years.
While Doncic was not nominated for any other awards at the ESPYs, multiple other NBA players received nominations. The full list of nominees and awards is available here.
