San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama is leading early conversations revolving around the NBA MVP award. Most expected him to be the frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year in 2025-26, but the French Goliath is taking the basketball world by storm on both ends of the floor.
If Wembanyama maintains his current pace, then it stands to reason that he could do something not even Tim Duncan managed to by winning MVP within his first three NBA seasons.
Wembanyama has been nothing short of sensational in 2025-26. Through four games, he's averaging 31.0 points, 13.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 4.8 blocks, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 three-point field goal made per contest on .603/.364/.800 shooting.
Wembanyama has decreased his three-point field goal attempts from 8.8 per game in 2024-25 to 2.8 in 2025-26, and is thoroughly dominating the interior.
Behind Wembanyama's gargantuan efforts, the Spurs have jumped out to a 4-0 record. It's unclear whether or not San Antonio [can sustain an elite level of team success](https://airalamo.com/wemby-player-week-win-more-undeniable-proof-spurs-scratching-surface), but if they do so and their superstar continues to dominate, MVP will be a realistic goal.
In the process, Wembanyama could make a bit of history by joining a short and esteemed list of players to have won MVP within their first three NBA seasons.
Victor Wembanyama can become the second player to win MVP within their first three NBA seasons since 1980
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The list of players who won MVP within their first three seasons is flush with Hall of Famers and, truthfully, players from a vastly different generation. Derrick Rose is the most recent example, securing the prestigious honor in 2010-11 and setting the stage for what seemed destined to be an iconic career.
Prior to Rose, the feat hadn't been achieved since Moses Malone took home the award in year three in 1978-79—although it's worth noting that he'd previously spent two years in the NBA-adjacent ABA.
With the ABA context in mind, it's fair to argue that it'd been 36 years since a player had won MVP within their first three seasons when Rose did so in 2011. Bob McAdoo was the previous player to earn that distinction, earning the award in year three in 1974-75.
In other words: If Wembanyama wins the 2025-26 MVP award, he'd join Rose as the only players within a 50-year span to receive the honor within their first three NBA and ABA seasons.
Prior to McAdoo, the players who managed the feat were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1970-71, Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld during their respective rookie years in 1959-60 and 1968-69, Dave Cowens in 1972-73, Bob Pettit in 1955-56, and Bill Russell in 1957-58.
That list of Hall of Fame players speaks for itself and is a testament to just how rare it truly is for a player to reach MVP levels as quickly as Wembanyama seems to be on pace to.
Victor Wembanyama would join likes of Kareem, Wilt, and Russell
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Much could certainly change between now and the end of the 2025-26 season, particularly once All-NBA point guard De'Aaron Fox returns to the lineup. San Antonio should continue to win games, but Wembanyama's gaudy statistics may decrease with another star alongside him.
With or without Fox, however, Wembanyama is [the epitome of unique](https://airalamo.com/if-story-true-wemby-mindset-got-legendary). He's a 7'4" titan with a wing-like handle, an advanced skill set as a scorer, and the type of two-way dominance that's impossible to ignore.
If the Spurs are winning games at a top-four clip and Wembanyama is playing at a superstar level on both ends of the floor, MVP should be within reach. In turn, he should have a serious chance to do something not even Duncan was able to.
Considering Duncan achieved just about everything imaginable during his career, that's exceptional praise for Wembanyama on its own.