Channing Frye’s assessment of Luka Dončić’s MVP candidacy was harsh, but it cut straight to the argument that has followed Dončić for years. Frye said,
“I think Luka was having a MVP level offensive year, but you can’t be number 1 in scoring and less than top 100 in defense. That drop off is wild. Jokic is so amazing for not being athletic, but he’s at least trying. He doesn’t really have these glaring holes where the game plan isn’t ’go at this dude all game.’ The game plan is to go at Luka all game!”
The offensive part of that criticism is not in dispute. Dončić led the NBA in scoring this season at 33.5 points per game, while also averaging 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds before his late hamstring injury. He was very much in the broader MVP conversation for much of the year, and the league’s own MVP ladder had him among the leading contenders in early April.
What Frye was really arguing is that the award has a threshold, and for him Dončić fell short on the defensive side. The numbers cited around that debate were unflattering. Dončić allowed blow-bys on 41 percent of drives, the fourth-worst mark among players with at least 100 defended drives, and ranked 109th out of 117 qualifying defenders in effective field-goal percentage allowed on contests.
That is where Frye drew the contrast with Nikola Jokić. Jokić has long been criticized for athletic limitations, but his supporters argue that he compensates with positioning, hands, anticipation, and a steadier overall defensive engagement. Frye’s point was not that Jokić is a lockdown defender. It was that opponents do not attack him with the same single-minded intent they often bring against Dončić. In Frye’s framing, that difference matters when the league is trying to separate great seasons from MVP seasons.
There is room to debate the severity of Frye’s wording, but not really the substance of the conversation. Dončić’s season was brilliant offensively and worthy of admiration. It was also the kind of season that reopened an old question: how much defensive vulnerability can an MVP candidate carry before it becomes disqualifying? Frye’s answer was clear. For all of Dončić’s artistry with the ball, he believes the other end of the floor is what kept the case from becoming complete.
