San Antonio Spurs superstar center Victor Wembanyama finished in third place for the league MVP award in voting totals announced on Sunday.
Not surprisingly, the Oklahoma City Thunder saw their best player capture his second straight MVP honor as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the award in back-to-back seasons. Since SGA was the best player on the team with the best record and finished second in league scoring, it makes sense that he was named the winner of the award.
But there were certainly arguments to be made about other players winning it, including Wembanyama of the Spurs. In the end, the 22-year-old Frenchman came in third place in MVP voting.
Victor Wembanyama Finishes 2nd in MVP Voting
The full MVP vote totals came out on Sunday night, and Wembanyama received 569 points, coming in third place in MVP voting behind the winner, SGA, and runner-up Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
The voting totals showed that Wembanyama had five first-place votes, 36 second-place votes, 47 third-place votes, 10 fourth-place votes, and two fifth-place votes. He finished in a close second place behind Jokic, but both centers were well behind SGA and didn’t really have a chance of winning the award when you look closely at the totals.
This was an absolute breakout year for Wembanyama, who helped lead the Spurs to the second-best record in the stacked NBA Western Conference, just two games behind the Thunder. They also went to the NBA Cup Final for the first time, ultimately losing to the New York Knicks, and they are currently set to face the rival Thunder in the NBA Western Conference Finals.
Much of their success can be attributed to the strong play of Wembanyama, who has proven he is beyond a doubt one of the most elite big men that the game of basketball has ever seen. Given that he is only in his third NBA season, there is every reason to think that Wembanyama hasn’t even reached the floor of his potential yet. Indeed, he has the potential to be the MVP for many years to come, and when it’s all said and done, he could be one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
Wembanyama Was Defensive Player of the Year
In addition to finishing in third place in league MVP voting, Wembanyama also won the Defensive Player of the Year Award, and he won it in a landslide as he was a unanimous winner — the first time in league history someone won the DPOY award unanimously.
It was overall an amazing regular season for the Frenchman, and he’s played well in the postseason when he’s been healthy, too. Should Wembanyama remain at full health and play in the Spurs’ starting lineup, then he has every chance to make a difference in each of the potential seven games against the Thunder as the Spurs look to pull off a mild upset and make it to the NBA Finals. If they are going to do so, then they need Wembanyama to be his MVP-caliber self.
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