The MVP race felt settled. Then Luka Doncic dropped 60. That performance did not just extend the Los Angeles Lakers’ winning streak to eight games. It forced a conversation shift across the league, including from one of its loudest voices.

On Friday morning’s episode of First Take, Stephen A. Smith publicly reversed his stance on the MVP race, admitting he had been wrong to leave Doncic out of the conversation. That admission carried weight because it did not come quietly.

“I think this, this dude is electrifying. He’s a scoring sensation. He’s a superstar in this league,” Smith said on First Take this morning. “I’m ashamed that I hadn’t brought up Luka for league MVP consideration sooner than this morning. That ends now. That gets corrected right now. Luka Dončić has been sensational. The Los Angeles Lakers have been incredibly impressive on an eight-game winning streak. He scored over 30 in each one of those games.”

That shift did not happen in isolation. It followed one of the most dominant scoring stretches of the season, capped by a 60-point performance against the Miami Heat in a 134-126 win.

Despite arriving in Miami at four in the morning, Doncic controlled the game from start to finish. The Lakers did not just win. They dictated the tempo behind their lead guard’s scoring burst.

“He (Luka Doncic) scored 100 over the last two games. I mean, I’m looking at the breakdown in terms of what he shot. He shot 43% in the second, in the first quarter, 57% in the second quarter, 60% in the third quarter, and of his 20 points, it was on 83% shooting in the fourth quarter. The brother is just doing his thing,” Smith added.

That single-game explosion sits on top of a larger run that is reshaping the MVP race. Doncic has scored 327 points over the last eight games, averaging 40.9 points on 50% shooting from the field and 42% from three. He has added 8.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game during that stretch, while the Lakers have outscored opponents by double digits.

Because of that, Los Angeles has surged to third in the Western Conference. At the same time, the MVP conversation has started to shift with it. Before this run, Doncic was not viewed as a serious top-three contender.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remained the clear frontrunner, with Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama also ahead in most discussions. Smith himself had not included Doncic in that tier.

That changed immediately after this stretch. “40.9 points on 50% shooting from the field, 42% shooting from three-point range with 8.9 rebounds per game, 7.4 assists, 2.4 steals. The Lakers outscoring opponents by 10 points….This dude is doing stuff that no other Laker has ever done, where every statistical thing that matters in basketball annals, there’s a Laker associated with something…Luka Doncic in a Los Angeles Laker uniform is a top candidate for league MVP honors. I’m announcing it right here this morning.”

That declaration reflects more than just numbers. It reflects momentum. Meanwhile, betting markets have responded accordingly. Doncic’s odds have surged into the second tier behind Gilgeous-Alexander, reinforcing that this is no longer a fringe case but a legitimate push.

Still, the race is not decided. Gilgeous-Alexander remains the favorite, backed by team success and season-long consistency. Because of that, Doncic’s late surge must sustain itself to fully shift voter sentiment.

Late-season MVP pushes are not new. Similar surges have reshaped races before, where dominant stretches forced voters to reconsider earlier assumptions. Doncic’s current run fits that pattern, where recency does not just influence perception but actively redefines it.

At the same time, this stretch is not built on isolated scoring nights. It is anchored in team success. The Lakers are 8-0 during this run. They have climbed to a top-three seed. They are winning with offensive control rather than narrow margins.

Because of that, Doncic’s case is not just statistical. It is situational.

Stephen A. Smith’s Rare Shift Extends Beyond Luka Doncic

The impact of this run is not limited to Doncic alone. It has also reframed how the Lakers are being viewed as a contender. Head coach JJ Redick’s system is now producing consistent results, while the supporting cast continues to elevate its level of play.

At the center of that is a partnership that is redefining roles. “I gave praise yesterday to LeBron James because, damn it, he deserves it. We’re not going to be shy about that,” Smith said on the show.

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“The Los Angeles Lakers are winning as a top-three seed in the Western Conference, okay? They’re winning basketball games. He (Doncic) is leading the way, and he has an individual in LeBron James who is on the Mount Rushmore of basketball, still playing like an All-Star caliber player, and he has to be deferential because Luka is that great. He’s that unstoppable,” Smith added.

That dynamic matters. LeBron James remains productive. Austin Reaves continues to score. The roster is functioning with clarity. Because of that, Doncic’s production is translating directly into wins.

One stat captures the scale of what is happening. Doncic now has more 60-point games than LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Shaquille O’Neal and Dirk Nowitzki combined.

That kind of output does not guarantee an MVP. However, it forces reconsideration. Right now, the race sits between sustained dominance and late momentum. Gilgeous-Alexander represents consistency across the season. Doncic represents a surge that is impossible to ignore.

Because of that, the final stretch of games will decide everything. If the Lakers hold their position near the top of the West and this level of production continues, the conversation will not just tighten. It will flip. And if that happens, Friday morning may be remembered as the moment when the narrative first changed.