Chris Mannix’s NBA Notebook: Victor Wembanyama Makes Loud MVP Case

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Greetings from Los Angeles, where I’m (briefly) unpacking my bags this week. The Clippers shrugged off a four-game losing streak with back-to-back wins over Dallas and Milwaukee to stay ahead of Portland for the No. 8 seed. There’s no avoiding the play-in for the Clips but there is certainly plenty of motivation to stay out of the No. 9 vs. No. 10 matchup. Meanwhile the Lakers lost a game for the first time in nearly three weeks but are starting to look like a real threat in the West.

Wemby makes his case

Late Monday, after making a strong MVP argument with a 26-point, 15-rebound, five-block effort in a win over Miami, Victor Wembanyama used his postgame news conference to make another. He noted that defense was “50% of the game” and that he was the most impactful defender. He pointed out that San Antonio was 4–0 against Oklahoma City this season, a not-so-subtle shot at his primary competition, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Of his scoring numbers, well below SGA’s, Wembanyama reminded reporters that “offense impact is not just points.”

Yeesh. Think Wemby wants to win MVP? There’s no doubt Wembanyama is deserving. Wemby, said NBC analyst Brian Scalabrine, “is the most impactful player I’ve ever seen.” Couple things that may work against him: Wembanyama is averaging 29.3 minutes per game. That would be the lowest for any MVP (Giannis Antetokounmpo averaged 30.4 minutes per game in the 2019–20 season). And the month he missed early in the season—and the way he was eased back into the Spurs’ lineup when he returned—will be considered. That’s not to say Wembanyama won’t win MVP. Just that this race could be razor close.

Is a Clippers decision looming?

On Wednesday, the NBA’s Board of Governors will meet in Manhattan. Expansion is the hot topic—the board is expected to hold its first formal vote on exploring adding expansion franchises in Seattle and Las Vegas—while different plans to curb tanking will also be discussed.

Will the Clippers investigation be on the agenda? Team officials have been closely monitoring the state of the league’s investigation, which has been in the hands of the Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz law firm, the NBA’s unofficial investigative arm. Commissioner Adam Silver has described the situation as “enormously complex” with thousands of pages of documents to be pored through. Still, with the season winding down there is plenty of interest in what, if any, punishment the league will level on the Clippers.

Houston, there’s definitely a problem

On Monday, after watching his team surrender 132 points in a loss to the tanking Bulls, Rockets coach Ime Udoka launched into his team in a fiery postgame rant. Houston “disrespected the game,” Udoka said, calling his team “not prepared from the get-go. Just non-aggressive, following around, watching them shoot.”

Said Udoka, “You’re going to have bad losses, and this is another one of them. Just stop bull----ing.”

After spending most of the season battling for a top-three seed, the Rockets now sit in sixth place in the Western Conference. Since the All-Star break, Houston is 15th in offensive efficiency and 17th in defense. The three-point shooting, already a weakness, has become a liability: The Rockets are 23rd in three-point attempts since the break and 24th in three-point shooting percentage.

Is there a fix? Teams don’t respect any of Houston’s perimeter shooters beyond Kevin Durant, which has resulted in Durant seeing a steady diet of double and triple teams. The loss of Fred VanVleet has become a more glaring issue as the season has gone on, as has the absence of Steven Adams, whose season-ending injury has cost the Rockets some of their physical identity.

Pistons motor along

Kudos to the Pistons, who have won three straight since news of Cade Cunningham’s lung injury sidelined Detroit’s MVP candidate. Daniss Jenkins, an undrafted find who has been developed by the Pistons since 2024, scored 30 points against the Lakers, steering Detroit to an unlikely win over the league’s hottest team.

Cunningham’s injury will knock him out of the MVP race but it tightened another. The Coach of the Year competition has been tight, with Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff battling Boston’s Joe Mazzulla and San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson (among others) for the top honors. Fending off Boston and New York with a strong finish would be a nice closing argument for Bickerstaff.

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