The Oklahoma City Thunder looked primed to take the Golden State Warriors as the NBA’s next dynasty, but the San Antonio Spurs have been a wrench in the Thunder’s side all season.
Not only has San Antonio dominated the season series 4-1 this year, but Victor Wembanyama has emerged as an MVP candidate just one season after Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took home the honors.
On Monday night, Wembanyama made it clear he feels he is deserving of the sport’s highest individual honor.
“I have thought about it,” Wembanyama said, via ESPN. “I think right now, there is a debate. There should be, even though I think I should lead the race. I’m trying to make sure that at the end of the season, there’s no debate.”
Wembanyama sees his defensive prowess as what should set him apart when listing his reasons for why he should be leading the race as things stand.
“My first one would be that defense is 50% of the game and that it is undervalued so far in the MVP race. I believe I’m the most impactful player defensively in the league,” he said. “Second argument would be that we almost swept OKC in the season, and we dominated them three times with their real team. … The third argument would be that offense impact is not just points.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson believes his star should be right there when it comes to MVP discussions.
“I think he’s close,” Johnson said. “All those guys you named are deserving; a couple of them already have that award. And I’m very biased. I get to see one of those guys every single night. I get to see him on the practice court. I get to see what he does in the morning. I get to see what does right now, after the game. So, I understand my opinion and outlook and perspective is very different than almost everyone else.
“But he affects as much of the game in every single way — on the court, on both ends, with and without the ball, what the other team tries to do, plan for, scheme, adjust to, on both sides of the basketball, in my very ignorant opinion — as much as any other player I’ve ever seen. Take that for whatever it’s worth.”
“Right now, it is still reasonable that there is a debate,” Wemby said. “But as I said, my goal is to make sure there’s no debate anymore at the end of the season.”