On Monday evening, the San Antonio Spurs continued their winning ways with a blowout road win over the Miami Heat. It was another strong game for superstar Victor Wembanyama, who scored 26 points on an efficient shooting night from the field, to go along with 15 rebounds and five blocks.
Many have projected that Wembanyama will be among the frontrunners to win this year's NBA MVP award, and recently, ESPN NBA insider Stephen A. Smith broke down why he now views the Spurs star as the favorite.
“He done changed my mind. I'll put him in the lead… he is right when he says that (defense) doesn't get mentioned enough when we talk about league MVP. That's a very astute point on his part. But that ain't even what did it for me… the second place team, who hasn't been relavent in years, has a star in Victor Wembanyama before the playoffs even began… and he looked into the microphone and said, ‘We've dominated the defending champoins when we've seen them this year,'” said Smith, per First Take on X, formerly Twitter.
Indeed, the Spurs have dominated the Oklahoma City Thunder in their matchups this season, winning four out of the five games between the two teams. Many anticipate that this could be the Western Conference Finals matchup in a couple of months, as the two teams are one and two in the conference, and looking exceedingly likely to finish there as the season winds down.
Meanwhile, Wembanyama has remained the best defensive player in the NBA by a wide margin while continuing to expand his offensive game, which could very well garner him some votes in the MVP discussion.
The Spurs will next take the floor on Wednesday evening for a road game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
