SI:AM | Victor Wembanyama Strengthens His MVP Case With Second Straight 40-Point Game

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I hope no one’s going to complain about how often I write about Victor Wembanyama.

In today’s SI:AM:
🏀 Texas’s unstoppable force
🚗 A trip to UConn hero’s hometown
📝 MLB extension candidates

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Wemby spurs San Antonio’s hot streak

Here’s something that should terrify the rest of the NBA: Victor Wembanyama just keeps getting better.

Wembanyama posted a surprisingly effortless 41 points and 18 rebounds in Wednesday’s 127–113 Spurs win over the Warriors. He hit 16 of his 22 field goal attempts, including 14 of his 16 two-pointers. It was his second straight 40-point outing and his fifth game in a row with at least 15 rebounds as he continues to make his case for his first MVP award.

“I do care deeply about it,” Wembanyama told Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter after the game, referring to winning the MVP. “I think that of the greats that are in the Hall of Fame—or the best of all time—they have fought and grabbed everything they could grab early on in their career. If I want to make my spot among the greats, I got to try to not miss any occasion to put my name up there.”

Wembanyama has progressed steadily since a left calf strain caused him to miss 12 games in November and December. He was on a minutes restriction immediately after his return from the injury and came off the bench for the first time in his career. He also hyperextended his left knee in late December and missed two games, which was followed by a three-game stretch where he again came off the bench. He quickly returned to full strength, though, and has helped the Spurs emerge as a real threat to win the Western Conference.

Wemby is averaging 25.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game since returning to the starting lineup on Jan. 11. Those numbers might not immediately jump off the page, but they’re particularly impressive when you consider that he’s playing just 29.4 minutes per game. Wednesday’s 41-point outburst came in just 29 minutes of playing time. He’s only played more than 35 minutes in a game three times since his initial injury in November.

The Spurs are right to be cautious with Wembanyama. The biggest concern when he entered the league as a draft prospect with nearly unprecedented hype was that his body might not hold up. It’s better to have him dominate for 30 minutes in 65 games than for 38 minutes in 40 games. But his somewhat limited playing time might cause casual fans to underestimate how strong Wembanyama’s MVP case is.

For much of the season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was favored to win the award again. Last year’s scoring champ has continued his remarkable run of offensive consistency, having now scored at least 20 points in 136 consecutive games. But two challengers to SGA’s MVP repeat have emerged over the past month. One is Luka Dončić, who scored an outrageous 600 points in March. (He’s just the 10th player in NBA history to score at least 600 points in a month. Michael Jordan is the only other player to do so in March.) The other is Wembanyama, who not only remains one of the most dominant defensive forces in the game but also possesses a burgeoning offensive skillset.

They’re three very different players, and that’s what makes this MVP debate fun. Gilgeous-Alexander is an efficient scorer and elite perimeter defender. Dončić is a high-volume shooter and fantastic distributor, but he is also a defensive liability. Wembanyama shuts down opposing offenses at the rim better than perhaps anyone else in the league and has improved immensely on the other end since his rookie year.

Wemby’s 24.7 points per game might seem paltry in comparison to Dončić’s league-leading 33.8 and SGA’s 31.6, but the gap is narrower when you take into account their playing time. Dončić and Gilgeous-Alexander are essentially tied for the league lead in points per 36 minutes (33.9), and Wembanyama is close behind in fourth place with 30.5. That, combined with Wembanyama’s defensive acumen and tremendous rebounding ability—he leads the NBA in defensive rebounds per 36 minutes by a wide margin—could be enough to win him the award.

More importantly, Wembanyama’s hot streak has the Spurs looking more like a title contender than they have in years. San Antonio is now 26–2 since the beginning of February, the best record in the league over that span, and 58–18 overall. That’s just two games behind the Thunder for the best record in the NBA. Are you ready to see Wembanyama take over some playoff games?

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