Victor Wembanyama is in the mix for NBA Most Valuable Player this season. Providing he plays in enough games — he can only miss two more games this season to meet the league’s 65-game threshold — he will be in the top five for sure, maybe the top three.
After the Spurs’ convincing win Monday against the Heat, Victor Wembanyama made his case to be the MVP.
Victor Wembanyama lays out the three reasons why he should be MVP. 👀 pic.twitter.com/OCkDu2aDkf
— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) March 24, 2026
“My first [argument] would be that defense is 50% of the game and that is undervalued, so far, in the MVP race. I believe I’m the most impactful player defensively in the league. Second argument would be that we almost swept OKC in the season, and we dominated them three times with their real team and four times with the, you know, more rotation players. My third argument would be that offense impact is not just points...
“I think right now, there is a debate. There should be, even though I think I should lead the race. And I’ll try to make sure that by the end of the season, there’s no debate.”
In the latest ESPN MVP straw poll — done just after the All-Star Game — Wembanyama was fourth, with Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver’s Nikola Jokic clearly ahead of the field in the race. Since then, Jokic has not played at quite the same level, while SGA has the Thunder looking like the best team in the NBA again and is putting up monster numbers. Wembanyama has played his best basketball since the break as well and is making a push up that list. (Cade Cunningham was third in that poll, but he is out with a collapsed lung and may not make the league’s 65-game threshold.)
Gilgous-Alexander is the clear frontrunner to repeat as MVP and has three key things going for him. First is just minutes played — while Gilgeous-Alexander has played in just three more games than Wembanyama (60 to 57), he has played 336 more minutes, the equivalent of seven full 48-minute games. That matters. Second, Gilgeous-Alexander is not only carrying more of his team’s offense than Wembanyama, but he’s also doing it more efficiently — the real key to SGA and Jokic’s dominance is their efficiency (which is why the advanced stats still like Gilgeous-Alexander more than Wemby). Third, while Wembanyama is unquestionably the better defender — and the clear frontrunner to win the first of many Defensive Player of the Year awards — Gilgeous-Alexander is no slouch on that end of the floor. SGA is a plus defender on the league’s best defensive team. Wembanyama’s advantage on this front is not as stark as with other players.
Wembanyama has a legitimate case to make — and it’s refreshing to hear a contender for the award say they want it and make that case public — no false modesty required.
