By Cole SullivanShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberWe’re nearing the two-month mark of the 2025-26 NBA season, and while we're only about a quarter of the way through with plenty of basketball left, NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson believes there’s already a clear frontrunner for league MVP.
Johnson, who stays very active on X, shared his thoughts after watching his former team—the Los Angeles Lakers—pull out an impressive 112–108 win over a fully healthy Philadelphia 76ers squad. Luka Doncic erupted for a 31-point triple-double in his return after missing two games for the birth of his second child.
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Doncic finished with 31 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists, continuing his dominant campaign and helping the Lakers improve to 17–6. Johnson believes Doncic is the clear MVP favorite over Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and several others, while also praising veteran LeBron James, who scored a season-high 29 points, including 10 straight in the fourth quarter.
"LeBron James was nothing short of spectacular, scoring [10 straight points] in the 4th quarter (including three straight 3-pointers) and finishing with 29 total points tonight to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 112-108! The NBA’s leading candidate for MVP, Luka Dončić, had a triple-double with 31 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists!" Johnson posted. "The Lakers are the most entertaining team in the NBA right now. Luka, LeBron, and Austin Reaves put on a show for the world to see, and they had the crowd going crazy with 'oohs' and 'ahhs.'"
...Johnson is still widely regarded as one of the greatest Lakers—and one of the greatest basketball players—of all time. He spent his entire playing career in Los Angeles and remains very vocal about his thoughts on the team.
This season, across 36.9 minutes per game, Luka Doncic is putting up remarkable numbers: 35.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, 8.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, while shooting 47.8% from the field and 34.1% from beyond the arc.
The Lakers return to action on Wednesday when they host the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
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