This year’s NBA MVP seems like an impossible choice given how well the top players are playing. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Jaylen Brown, Victor Wembanyama… They are all flying.
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Shai has been even more efficient than the version that won him the award for the first time last year. Nikola Jokic is leading the league in assists and rebounds while also scoring 27.9 points per game. Doncic leads the league in scoring and has gone completely nuclear in recent weeks, solidifying the Lakers as the 3-seed in the West in the process.
Brown has carried the Celtics all year in the absence of Jayson Tatum. And then there is Wembanyama, who has made an undeniable impact on both ends of the floor. SGA, though, is still the betting favorite to repeat, but after the Spurs went on the road and annihilated the Heat a couple of nights ago, Wemby stated his case both on the court as well as off it in the post-game press conference.
The French star emphasized that his defense and the success his Spurs have had head-to-head against the Thunder while staking his claim as the top player in the league this season. When Wemby talks, people listen, and he seems to have found a sympathetic ear with the hosts of No Fouls Given.
On the latest episode, Danny Green and Paul Pierce credited Wemby and his words for helping them see the light. “It’s a very good one,” Green said of Wemby’s MVP argument.
“It’s a damn good one. Obviously, the No. 1 seed and record matters, but we’re looking at a guy who could be and should be taking over that Derrick Rose title as the youngest MVP,” he added.
Green isn’t quite to the point of wanting to give Wemby the award, but he’s close. “As of right now, I’m still with SGA, but this argument makes me very much re-evaluate. And it depends on where they end up finishing, what the records are at the end of it,” he added.
The Spurs are only three games behind the Thunder in the standings as of now. And they’ve won four out of five matchups with them. If they finish 6-4, they’ll end the season with 60 wins. That’s more than enough for Wemby to be discussed on his own merits.
Pierce thinks that, as of now, Wemby should win the MVP. “It’s a great argument. He’s right, because his impact on winning as compared to the other guys, I mean, it’s tough to deny. Defensively, offensively,” he said.
“This is what I go by,” continued Pierce. “What were our expectations for OKC coming into the season? ‘Oh, they’ll probably have the best record, Shai will average 30.’ Before we saw them play this year, that’s what we would have said. I didn’t see San Antonio being a second seed. I probably had ’em being a play-in team.”
Wemby is the guy most responsible for the Spurs becoming contenders this year. And for that reason, Pierce said, “I do think he should be the favorite, if not one of the two favorites.”
No matter which way it goes, this MVP race is going to be extremely tight until the very last game. It could very well lead to a Western Conference Finals matchup between the Thunder and Spurs, where one player has already been named the winner, and the other one is out for playoff revenge.
Whether Wemby wins it this year or not, it looks like a done deal that he’s going to collect multiple MVP trophies in his future. He’s already impacting the game so much, and he’s still improving every night. The sky is the limit for the young Spurs star.
