We now have proof that Spurs' Victor Wembanyama can win MVP over Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The results of ESPN's latest NBA MVP straw poll point to one clear favorite for the league's top individual honor -- but there could be drama down the stretch as the possibility of another first-time winner looms in the wings.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains the firm favorite to repeat at NBA MVP, as 100 media members polled by ESPN awarded him 78 first-place votes and included him on every ballot. Gilgeous-Alexander's lead has grown over Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, whose bid to win a fourth MVP award stalled when he suffered a bone bruise in his knee in December.
But San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama's candidacy has received a major shot in the arm amid his own return to health -- and the red-hot Spurs' ambitions of taking down the Thunder for the top seed in the Western Conference.
ESPN's Tim Bontemps writes that a Joel Embiid-like surge down the stretch could see Wembanyama become the Spurs' first MVP since Tim Duncan in 2003.
"If (Wembanyama) remains healthy, and if San Antonio can make up the three games it currently sits behind OKC for first in the West, Wembanyama could replicate the 2022-23 race, when Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid's late charge won him the MVP over Jokic," Bontemps wrote.
In his third NBA season, Wembanyama is averaging 24.4 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game for the Spurs, who won their seventh successive game on Thursday night to improve to 39-16.
If the Spurs keep this up and dethrone the ailing Thunder for the #1 seed, that could give Wembanyama quite a bit of sway with voters in an already-tense MVP race.