MIAMI (AP) — Victor Wembanyama is making it clear: He wants to win the NBA's MVP award this season.
The San Antonio star - moments after his team officially clinched its first Southwest Division title in nine seasons - detailed some elements of his MVP case on Monday night after the red-hot Spurs beat the Miami Heat 136-111 for their 22nd win in their last 24 games.
“I have thought about it," Wembanyama said. "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 is averaging 24.3 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.0 blocked shots per game. Only six players have finished a season with such numbers — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it five times, Hakeem Olajuwon did it twice, while Shaquille O'Neal, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson all did it once. The sixth player on that list? That would be Wembanyama, who did all that last season as well, albeit in only 46 games.
Wembanyama is next, with the third-best odds as of Monday, one spot ahead of Denver's Nikola Jokic. Everyone else would be considered a significant long shot for the award at this point, though the NBA's 65-game rule for major award eligibility - like MVP - could become a factor. Jokic can miss only one more game, for example, before he falls off the ballot and Wembanyama can miss no more than three more contests.
Wembanyama, who won rookie of the year two years ago and was generally considered a lock for defensive player of the year last season until he had to be shut down while dealing with deep vein thrombosis, has a three-part campaign pitch.
“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," Wembanyama 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.”
It should not surprise anyone that the Spurs also believe Wembanyama is more than just an MVP contender.
“I think he’s close," Spurs coach Mitch 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.”
The Spurs are 54-18. They're going to be the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. They'll have home court in Round 1 of the playoffs, Round 2 if they get there and almost certainly would have it in the NBA Finals if they get that far. There are a lot of reasons for that, but the biggest reason - literally, given that Wembanyama is 7-foot-4 - is a 22-year-old face of the franchise who has wowed the Spurs every day with his maturity and work ethic.
The MVPs are almost certainly coming at some point. Wembanyama doesn't want to keep waiting.
“Right now, it is still reasonable that there is a debate," Wembanyama said. "But as I said, my goal is to make sure there’s no debate anymore at the end of the season.”
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