Victor Wembanyama did not just leave Miami with a win on Monday night. He walked out of the Kaseya Center having delivered a full-throated MVP stump speech, then immediately backing it up in a 136-111 beatdown of the Heat that put the Spurs firmly in charge as they close in on the playoffs.
After the game, Wembanyama laid out his case in clear, almost lawyerly fashion, zeroing in on three points he believes should sway voters: that defense “is 50 percent of the game,” that the Spurs took care of Oklahoma City in their head-to-heads, and that “offense impact is not just points,” according to the San Antonio Express-News. On the floor, he put up 26 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks in the blowout win, a result that clinched the Southwest Division for San Antonio, per the ESPN box score. Asked to weigh in on his star’s MVP chances, coach Mitch Johnson kept it simple: “I think he’s close,” a nod to just how central Wembanyama has become to everything the Spurs do.
Season numbers back up the argument
Wembanyama is averaging roughly 24 points and 11 rebounds this season while sitting near the top of the league in blocks, production that has fueled a blistering run from San Antonio. Since Feb. 1, the Spurs are an NBA-best 22-2, part of a surge that has them at 54-18 and thriving on both ends of the floor, a team context that historically tends to impress MVP voters. The recent stretch and the scope of Monday’s blowout in Miami are highlighted by CBS Sports.
Milestones that strengthen the case
Monday’s game also turned into a milestone tracker for Wembanyama. He crossed 4,000 career points in his 174th appearance, and he is now just the third player ever to reach 4,000-plus points and 300-plus made 3-pointers in his first 175 games. He also joined franchise legend David Robinson as one of only two players to post 4,000-plus points and 600-plus blocks across their first 175 games, a tidy snapshot of his rare two-way profile, as detailed by the San Antonio Express-News.
What it means for the MVP race
The road to the trophy is still crowded. Wembanyama is chasing established heavyweights, most notably Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver’s Nikola Jokić, who continue to sit atop many betting boards and media trackers. A late surge from a top-seeded Spurs team, though, has the potential to scramble those rankings. Current MVP odds compilations at RotoWire still feature Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokić among the favorites, yet the combination of momentum and team record looms large as the season winds down.
For now, Wembanyama has done what candidates are supposed to do: state the case, then dominate the game. The Spurs flew out of Miami with a division title in hand and a sharper, louder argument for their young star’s spot in the MVP conversation.
