The Los Angeles Lakers will face the Golden State Warriors in their first game of the 2026-27 season.
This matchup is a rematch of last year's season opener, when the Warriors beat the Lakers. Now the Lakers will look to return the favor and start the season off on the right note, led by the undisputed face of the franchise for LA, Luka Doncic.
The Lakers have entered a new era ushered in by Doncic. After LeBron James' departure, the Lakers have a new leader, and it's the guy they surprisingly traded for before the 2025 NBA trade deadline.
Doncic is one of the league's best players, and one of the few top players who have yet to win MVP. While he's always at the top of the leaderboard, Doncic still hasn't collected that piece of hardware.
The 27-year-old will surely have a good shot at it for several more years, but it may never come his way, at least that's what Warriors forward Draymond Green said.
Draymond Green: 'Luka Will Never Win' NBA MVP
In his latest podcast appearance, Green said Doncic will never win MVP, arguing that people have become so accustomed to his elite production that they no longer view it as extraordinary.
— NBABase (@TheNBABase) October 21, 2026
"Luka will never win an MVP in the NBA," Green said.
"This is the last possible year he can win it. Because if Luka can go average 34 points a game, they gonna be like 'oh yeah, of course Luka averaged 34 points a game,'" Green said.
The highest Doncic finished in MVP voting is third, and that came during the 2023-24 season. It was the season when he led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals.
The former No. 3 overall pick averaged 33.9 points per game, 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 48.7% from the field and 38.2% from three.
Statistically, that was the best season of his career, and that's saying something, considering the types of seasons Doncic has produced.
In Doncic's first full season with the Lakers in 2025-26, he returned to his MVP form, averaging 33.5 points per game and leading LA to 53 wins, their most since their 2019-20 title season.
However, it wasn't enough to win MVP, as Doncic finished fourth in voting. The NBA did reward him by naming him to the First-Team All-NBA for the sixth time in his career.
While winning an MVP award would boost Doncic's resume, an NBA championship would mean even more. Bringing a title to Los Angeles remains the Lakers superstar's top priority.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on YouTube, Facebook, X/Twitter and Instagram for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google