Victor Wembanyama had an amazing night against the Atlanta Hawks, leading his team to an overtime victory with 42 points. Two of those points were a spectacular off-the-glass alley-oop to himself. Following the game, the guys at the TNT Studio discussed the game, and Kenny Smith made a bold Wemby MVP prediction.
Kenny Smith Has a Bold Wemby MVP Prediction
According to Kenny Smith, Victor might win an MVP award before LeBron James did and before Kevin Durant did. He said,
“When I first saw him in Vegas, I’m like this guy in three to four years, he’ll be the MVP of the league just because he does so many things. And I’m still going to stick by that. I think in his fourth year, he will be the MVP of this league.”
Charles Barkley resisted it, saying that while Wemby is getting better, it is hard to envision San Antonio being that much better in two years. Winning matters in MVP voting, and the last guy to win an MVP as a lower seed was Nikola Jokic. He got his second MVP as a sixth seed in the West in 2021-22, but that was largely due to dragging the Nuggets there with Michael Porter Jr. playing only nine games, and Jamal Murray missing the entire season. Wemby has areas to show improvement, as Kenny put it,
“He is a seven foot-five guard playing basketball, which is a unique quality. The key will be availability, the key will be strength, and in the half court. Because at times, your jump shot won’t go.”
In this game, however, Wemby had a great shooting night, going 7-15 from behind the arc, and 13-24 in general. He became the first player to connect on seven three-pointers while also adding six rebounds, five assists, and four blocks in the same game. At one point during the game, he served as the catalyst for 11 straight points, including from the mid-post, near the bucket, and a three-pointer, before dishing an alley-oop to Jeremy Sochan. He also had his own alley-oop in the game, something we see in All-Star games, but not in real games.
Can He Beat LeBron and Durant?
For comparison, LeBron James won his first MVP award in his sixth season, while Durant won it in his seventh season. LeBron was in the top 10 in MVP voting for the first five seasons of his career, and top-five three times in a row before eventually winning it. Durant didn’t receive any MVP votes in his first two seasons and finished in the top-five the next four years. Two times, he finished second behind LeBron, before eventually taking the trophy in his seventh season.
When Durant won his first MVP award, he averaged 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.3 steals in 38.5 minutes of action. He played in 81 of 82 games that year. LeBron averaged 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 37.7 minutes of action in his first MVP year.
Victor, for his part, averages 24.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 3.5 blocks this year. The competition this year will be extreme with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander all making their case.
Who Will He Compete Against?
Jokic looks like the best player in the world this year and certainly has the potential to continue to dominate the game. But in two years, if the Nuggets find him some reliable help, his numbers should come down to Earth a bit and look “mortal”. Antetokounmpo, fresh off an NBA Cup win, is also firmly in the running.
We have to mention young stars like Luka Doncic and SGA. Then, there is Anthony Edwards, the best American young star in the league right now. Wemby certainly has a shot, but his Spurs will have to likely be in the top-four in the West to even sniff an MVP award.
