In a time when the NBA has probably more talent than ever, the San Antonio Spurs still have the most exciting player to watch in the league.
Victor Wembanyama’s combination of size, shooting, playmaking, defense, and competitiveness makes him the most unique player in the world — maybe of all time.
That’s why, now that he’s fully healthy and leading the team back to the playoffs, he wants to get the recognition he deserves. Following his team’s road win over the Miami Heat, the former No. 1 pick laid his case for being this year’s MVP:
"My goal is to make sure that there’s no debate anymore at the end of the season," Wembanyama told the media (h/t Jared Weiss).
Wembanyama claimed that he had three bullet points to justify why he’s the rightful MVP, and it’s hard to argue with his case:
"My first one would be that defense is 50% of the game, and that is undervalued so far in your race. I believe I'm the most impactful player defensively in the league," he began. "My second argument would be that we almost swept OKC in the season. We dominated them three times with their real team and four times with their rotation players. My third argument would be that offense impact is not just points."
Wembanyama is the most impactful defender in the game. He’s leading the league in blocks per game for the third time in as many years in the league (3.0), and he also has a league-leading 102 defensive rating, per Basketball Reference.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, he’s also averaging 24.3 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 2.0 three-pointers per game on 50/35/81 shooting splits for the 2nd-seeded Spurs. The 22-year-old is playing winning basketball, and even if he doesn’t win MVP this season, he’ll definitely take the award home at least once at some point in the future.
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