Ex-Lakers champion sparks backlash with his Victor Wembanyama comments

Robert Horry is doing his best to keep the Los Angeles Lakers-San Antonio Spurs rivalry alive.

The Lakers and the Spurs met on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. It was the Spurs who earned the 136-108 blowout victory with star center Victor Wembanyama leading the way with a massive 40-point night on 13-of-20 shooting from the field.

Speaking on the Spectrum SportsNet postgame show afterward, the retired ex-Lakers champion Horry, who now serves as an analyst for the team, made some harsh comments about Wembanyama. Horry said that Wembanyama, even despite the magical outing against the Lakers, was not even in his top five for the Most Valuable Player race (with Horry noting that he does have an official vote).

“He’s not even in my top five,” said Horry. “Because he hasn’t played enough games for me to be in my top five.

“He’s too inconsistent for me,” Horry added of Wembanyama. “I think we trying to anoint him as the next great too fast. Don’t get me wrong, the kid is absolutely fantastic. But he ain’t no LeBron James, he ain’t no Kobe Bryant … I do have a vote [for MVP].”

Horry’s remarks about Wembanyama immediately sparked backlash. Many felt that Horry was showing an unfair bias against Wembanyama, especially as an official NBA MVP voter. Additionally, Horry was trying to measure up Wembanyama to all-time greats like James and Bryant … in a conversation about who is the MVP for the 2025-26 NBA season.

In any case, Wembanyama is averaging a stout 29.0 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game over 40 total appearances this season. Virtually everybody has him as at least a top-five MVP candidate for the No. 2-seeded Spurs … but not Horry, who has also upset other non-Lakers fan bases with inflammatory comments in the past.