Expectations are mounting for San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama.
Wembanyama’s Potential Awards and Historical Comparisons
If Wembanyama plays in at least one more regular-season game, meeting the NBA’s 65-game rule, he will almost certainly win Defensive Player of the Year and finish top-five in MVP voting. He would be the first to achieve this since Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2020-21.
Finishing top-five in MVP and DPOY voting has been achieved by players on teams that won 40-something games and did not escape the first or second round of the playoffs. Paul George and Sidney Moncrief are among them.
It is rarer for players to finish top-five in MVP and DPOY voting for great teams. The Spurs, with their record, qualify as a great team.
Whether they win the title this season is a coin flip, but whether he wins one at any point is practically a certainty.
Historical Championship Odds
Since the NBA debuted its Defensive Player of the Year trophy in 1982-83, on 30 occasions, 15 different players have finished top-five in both MVP and DPOY voting for a team that won 70% of its games. Half the time, that player went on to win the championship.
Never did he lose in the first round of the playoffs. He reached the conference finals 25 out of the 30 times and made the NBA Finals 60% of the time.
Because the Spurs are +450 to win the championship, according to BetMGM, that is a pretty good bet, considering, if history is any indication, the title is a 50-50 proposition.
Look who won titles as a top-five MVP and DPOY candidate whose team won 70% of its games: Michael Jordan (four times), Tim Duncan (four times), LeBron James (twice), Hakeem Olajuwon (twice), Giannis Antetokounmpo (2020-21), Kevin Garnett (2007-08), Kobe Bryant (2001-02), Shaquille O’Neal (1999-2000) and Scottie Pippen (1995-96).
Besides Pippen, and with the possible exception of Garnett, the rest are all-timers.
Wembanyama’s Potential Trajectory
Finish top-five in MVP and DPOY voting, lead your team to 60 wins and a title, and you are an all-timer.
Wembanyama could join this club at age 22. He would then match Duncan as the youngest ever to achieve this feat.
Wembanyama is currently day-to-day in the regular season’s final week due to a rib contusion.