Kyrie endorses Luka for MVP: 'His stats speak for themselves'

Kyrie Irving thinks Dallas Mavericks teammate Luka Doncic has made a strong case to walk away with his first NBA MVP award this season.

Irving threw his support behind Doncic following the Mavs' 111-92 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday, laying out why he believes the Slovenian is most deserving of MVP honors.

"We knew how special this year was going to be just based on our practices, what Luka was doing, showcasing that all the time, really being more vocal, challenging his teammates, challenging me, and doing it in his own way," Irving said, per Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News. "And I think that's the true sign of an MVP - coming into a season and really initiating himself into that leadership role, and doing it on both ends of the floor.

"His stats speak for themselves. He's first in a lot of different categories. He's held the team up when I wasn't able to be in the lineup. ... There are a lot of factors that attribute to his MVP case. ... I have the utmost love and support to give him during this time because I want to see him win MVP. If it's not gonna be this year, it's gonna be in the eventual future, in the near future. He's mastered different nuances of the game and he's continuing to explore his abilities and his talents, and it's beautiful to be a part of."

Doncic's teammates also showed support for his MVP case on the court Wednesday, donning shirts with "Pravi MVP" for warmups.

Doncic is averaging a league-high 33.9 points per game this season and ranks second in the NBA with 9.8 assists per contest.