Victor Wembanyama has been campaigning for himself to win MVP, but the rest of the league doesn't see him as a frontrunner.
The San Antonio Spurs want Victor Wembanyama to win MVP. The French superstar has campaigned for himself all season long and has the resume to back it up.
"I think I should lead the race," Wembanyama declared last month.
The generally recognized frontrunners for the award this season are Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jaylen Brown, and Wembanyama. Anthony Edwards, Cade Cunningham, and Luka Doncic will all finish below the league's 65-game threshold for consideration, so competition is slim.
Most Spurs fans would say that Wemby is far and away the frontrunner. The national media would say he's in contention to be sure, but both Jokic and SGA have strong cases as well.
A recently published poll reveals that Wembanyama's NBA peers tend to think a bit differently.
Spurs To Be Motivated By NBA Player Poll
As soon as Wembanyama made it clear that he wanted to be the MVP, his teammates started to support his bid.
"I'm trying to make sure that until the end of the season, there's no debate anymore," he outlined. "I'm the most impactful player defensively in the league. Second argument would be that we almost swept OKC in the season, and we dominated them three times with their real team and four times with more rotation players."
The betting odds tend to agree with him. According to FanDuel, Wembanyama is tied with Jokic for the second-best odds, behind SGA.
If he doesn't finish in first, he will certainly be in the top three. The only group that disagrees with that is other players, according to a poll released by The Athletic.
159 players were asked who they think the MVP is. SGA was the overwhelming favorite, followed by Jokic, Brown, Cunningham, and then Doncic. Wembanyama was behind all of them.
It stands to reason that results were submitted before Cunningham and Doncic were deemed ineligible, but still. Fourth place among qualified players, taking home only five percent of the vote?
As the Spurs prepare for the playoffs, expect Wembanyama to use the poll as motivation. One of the most ruthlessly competitive players in the entire league, Wembanyama has also made it clear that he expects to win a title this season.
Maybe being overlooked for the Michael Jordan Trophy will ensure the Spurs win the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
That seems like a fair trade!