Lakers Fan Vote Reveals MVP, Future Stars and the Team's Most Chaotic Personalities
NBA awards season is here, and we wanted to hear from YOU, Los Angeles Lakers fans.
Who is your team's MVP? What about its next first-time All-Star? Which player is on the best contract? How about the worst?
Which player is most likely to have a burner account? Who's the best athlete? And, perhaps most importantly, if you had to choose one player to team up with during a Zombie apocalypse, who's your guy?
You helped us make sense of the Lakers' season by casting a ballot for each of these awards—and more!
Who Is the Most Valuable Player?
1 of 10
Winner: Luka Dončić
Luka Dončić's league-wide MVP eligibility will depend on an Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge, but games limits and appellate processes don't matter here. No one else on the Lakers put up a fight against his 92.0 percent share of the vote.
Dončić's lead in virtually every statistical category was more than enough to sew this award up—unless you refused to vote for him because of his incessant complaining to officials. If that was your stance, and you were unmoved by Dončić scoring over 600 points in March, you helped LeBron James and Austin Reaves pick up the scraps.
Who Is Most Underrated?
2 of 10
Winner: Marcus Smart
Marcus Smart isn't the same level of defender he was a few seasons ago, but his status as the only legitimate stopper in the Lakers' rotation lent him extra importance. If he wasn't out there running into opponents, drawing fouls and deflecting passes, those jobs just weren't getting done.
Rui Hachimura quietly became one of the most accurate three-point shooters in the league over the last couple of years, which earned him 20.0 percent of the vote. Reaves got that exact same share, tying for second.
One other option: LeBron. Just because he's not a top-10 player anymore doesn't mean he's washed. Anyone else averaging 20, six and six on 50 percent shooting would have gotten a lot more praise than James is.
Who Is the Best Athlete?
3 of 10
Winner: LeBron James
The Lakers were woefully short on athleticism. Jaxson Hayes moved around pretty well for a player his size, and he got up for lobs once in a while. But his lack of coordination led to as many bumbling gaffes as highlights.
Deceleration and body control are skills, and Dončić has those.
If we're adjusting for age, James is without question the most athletic 41-year-old in NBA history. He often looked faster and bouncier than his own 21-year-old son, and he ended up easily winning this category.
Who Is Most Likely To Be a 1st-Time All-Star In the Next 5 Years?
4 of 10
Winner: Austin Reaves
This was a relatively easy one, as Reaves played at an All-Star level but missed too much time before the break to be a real consideration. One of the key early-season storylines in Los Angeles was Reaves' clear readiness for an alpha role, which he showed off whenever his big-name teammates were out of the lineup.
After him, pickings were slim.
Who Has the Best Contract?
5 of 10
Winner: Austin Reaves
It's an absolute certainty that Reaves will decline his $14.9 million player option for 2026-27 to enter free agency, where he'll command close to three times that much on an annual basis. If that doesn't indicate he was underpaid, I'm not sure what does.
LaRavia was more than a $6 million player, and there's also a good case to be made that Ayton, despite his flaws, outperformed his $8.1 million salary. Full-time starters tend to cost more than half the MLE—or one-third of the MLE in Smart's case.
Who Has the Worst Contract?
6 of 10
Winner: Jarred Vanderbilt
Luke Kennard hit a game-winner earlier this year, which was enough to excuse his $11 million expiring deal. Maxi Kleber makes the same amount, also on an expiring contract, and he barely played this season.
Voters also decided Hachimura's demotion to the bench didn't mean his $18.3 million figure was a little high.
Ultimately, Vanderbilt's longer deal, which runs through 2027-28 at about $12 million per year, was the winner here. All of the Lakers' other iffy contracts come off the books sooner.
Who Is the Best Trash-Talker?
7 of 10
Winner: Luka Dončić
No word yet on whether voters considered trash talk directed at referees. Even if chatter to officials didn't count, Dončić still walked away with this award pretty easily. Virtually every big shot of his career was immediately followed by several sentences' worth of English and Slovenian—all of which loosely translated to "I'm him."
James doesn't have to chirp anymore, while Smart is more of a physical than verbal irritant. That left Reaves as the only other chatty Lakers player, though he fell a long way short of Dončić in word count and consistency.
Who Is Most Likely To Have a Burner Account?
8 of 10
Winner: LeBron James
Maybe there's an account out there where James shows off his legendary memory or pumps up his often-questioned reading habits. Nobody has found it yet, but fans still decided LBJ was the most likely burner owner.
Mark Cuban probably still has some pro-Luka and anti-Nico Harrison propaganda accounts floating around out there, if that counts for anything.
Who Are You Taking With You Into the Zombie Apocalypse?
9 of 10
Winner: Marcus Smart
Durability is going to be important when food supplies dwindle, so James was a strong choice here. He fell just three percent short of Smart's winning vote share.
Conversely, Dončić's need to create contact ruled him out; you want to avoid touching the undead if at all possible.
Smart has made a career out of finding tiny, borderline unsportsmanlike advantages through flopping, provocation and constant aggression. It's unclear how those qualities might help him in a post-apocalyptic situation, but voters determined they'd be useful.
Who Is Most Likely To Be Playing Overseas In 2 Seasons?
10 of 10
Winner: Maxi Kleber
Fans bought the theory that Bronny James might decide he'd really like to escape his dad's shadow, just not in large enough numbers to upset Maxi Kleber.
The veteran big man could head back to Germany as soon as this summer when his current deal expires, a possibility 43.0 percent of voters endorsed.
.png?w=600 "Predicting Every 2nd-Round Series 🔮")