Victor Wembanyama is not tiptoeing around the NBA’s MVP conversation. After San Antonio’s win over the Miami Heat on Monday, the Spurs star once again openly argued that he belongs at the front of the race and made clear he wants to remove any doubt before the regular season ends.
“I have thought about it,” Wembanyama said. “I think right now there is a debate. There should be, even though I think I should lead the race. I’m trying to make sure that at the end of the season, there’s no debate.”
Wembanyama did not offer a vague claim or a generic star-player answer. He laid out a full case rooted in two-way impact, team results and a broader definition of offensive value.
“My first one would be that defense is 50% of the game and that it is undervalued so far in the MVP race. I believe I’m the most impactful player defensively in the league,” Wembanyama said. “Second argument would be that we almost swept OKC in the season, and we dominated them three times with their real team. … The third argument would be that offense impact is not just points.”
Asked Wemby to provide his 3 campaign bullet points for why he should be MVP https://t.co/HjRppaPLfY pic.twitter.com/FHXrFMjAi3
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) March 24, 2026
The comments came after another strong showing in San Antonio’s 136-111 victory over Miami, a game in which Wembanyama finished with 26 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks. The performance only added weight to a season that has already made him one of the league’s defining forces on both ends of the floor. The Spurs have won 22 of the last 23 games Victor Wembanyama has played in,
Whether voters ultimately agree with him is a different question. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains widely viewed as one of the central figures in the race, and MVP debates are often shaped as much by team record, narrative and offensive production as by all-around impact. But Wembanyama’s point was unmistakable: he believes the discussion has been too narrow, especially when it comes to defense.
