Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) argues a call through the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
MANILA, Philippines—NBA legend Steve believes that Los Angeles star Luka Doncic shouldn’t end the 2025-26 season empty-handed.
In an internet press conference on Tuesday, Nash said Doncic should give you the chance to win awards despite not meeting the league’s games played quota.
“I feel Luka needs to be allowed to receive postseason awards,” Nash said within the media call presented by NBA on Prime. “He needs to be an All-NBA player, he should give you the chance to receive whether it’s an MVP or All-NBA.”
Because it stands, Doncic is probably going ineligible to win any end-of-season awards after only playing 64 games, only a game in need of the quota of 65.
Doncic is out of the regular season after suffering a Grade 2 left hamstring injury within the Lakers’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 4.
“That is where I feel it gets tricky, the rule wasn’t brought in place to punish people for being injured, it was brought as much as punish the system for allowing guys to miss too many games to rest,” Nash clarified. “That’s not the case here.”
For the season, Doncic has averaged 33.5 points, 8.3 assists and seven.7 rebounds per game, along with his teammates stressing that he needs to be within the MVP conversation.
Nash, though, He has a distinct name in mind for the MVP plum.
“For me, though, I feel Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) is the MVP in totality based on the whole thing of the season. He’s such an efficient scorer on a winning team,” Nash said.
For comparison, Gilgeous-Alexander is currently putting numbers of 31.3 points, 6.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.