Victor Wembanyama's Bold MVP Admission on Tuesday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Ishaan Bhattacharya | Last updated Mar 23, 2026 11:34 PM ET

The San Antonio Spurs have guaranteed a return to the NBA Playoffs after seven long years away from the postseason, as the team had to go through a protracted rebuild to end the Gregg Popovich era. Drafting Victor Wembanyama in 2023 officially ended their search for a new franchise cornerstone, and the Spurs have returned to form with Wembanyama emerging as an MVP candidate.

The Spurs have a 54-18 record, just three games behind the No. 1 seed OKC Thunder. Wembanyama has averaged 24.3 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks this season, and is expected to easily win the first Defensive Player of the Year of his career. However, the French center has its eyes set on an even bigger trophy.

In the media scrum after the Spurs' 136-111 win over the Miami Heat, Wembanyama laid out three reasons why he should be crowned league MVP this season.

"I think right now, there is still a reasonable debate. My goal is to make sure there is no debate at the end of the season."

"My first one would be that defense is 50% of the game, which is undervalued in the race because I believe I'm the most impactful player defensively. The second argument would be that we almost swept OKC in the season, and we dominated them three times against their real team. My third argument would be that offensive impact is not just points."

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama dribbles the ball up the court during his team's game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on March 17, 2026.Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Wembanyama put up 26 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks against the Heat, which likely emboldened him to make such a statement.

Everyone knows Wembanyama has high self-belief and needs to make eight appearances in the Spurs' remaining 10 games to be eligible for awards consideration. If he can make it through the rest of the season without any injuries, the odds of him being an MVP finalist are incredibly high.

It's hard to see how Wembanyama would beat current MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who's averaging 31.5 points, 6.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds. Team record and defensive contributions might give Wembanyama enough ammo to beat out Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic, but beating out SGA will be the main challenge.

If Wembanyama has some incredible nights from now to the end of the season with the Thunder even having a slight misstep, it's likely that voters switch over to team Wembanyama and crown a new youngest MVP in league history.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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