Victor Wembanyama may not have won the MVP this season, but if you listened to him after Game 1, he sounded less like disappointment and more like a warning for the rest of the NBA players eyeing the MVP trophy.
Moments before tip-off at Paycom Center, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander officially received the NBA MVP trophy from commissioner Adam Silver. The crowd went crazy, cameras flashed everywhere and the trophy sparkled like it had its own lighting crew.
Meanwhile, somewhere nearby stood Wembanyama looking like a seven-foot future problem.
Shai earned the award after collecting 83 first-place votes in a dominant MVP race. Nikola Jokic finished second, while Wembanyama came in third with five first-place votes.
After the ceremony, Wembanyama spoke about the MVP trophy in a way that probably made every NBA fan immediately nervous. According to Victor, his dream is to win the award many times during his career.
Not once, not twice. Many times! The league heard that statement and collectively swallowed hard.
“I still got a lot to learn,” Wembanyama said. “And I want to get that trophy many times in my career.”
San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson praised Wembanyama’s mentality after the victory.
“I think that young man is, he has a rare desire to step into every moment that’s in front of him,” Johnson said. “He has showed in his three years, in a lot of different situations, with a lot of different circumstances, that he’s going to attack those moments.”
Johnson added, “He has some rare God-given ability. He puts in even more work and preparation into trying to maximize that.”
This is like congratulating somebody on buying a mansion while also casually saying, “Nice place. I plan on owning five.”
Still, there was clear respect between the stars. Wemby praised Shai’s incredible season, and nobody questioned that Gilgeous-Alexander deserved the honor.
But if there was one takeaway from Victor’s comments, it was this: he is not satisfied being part of the conversation, he plans on taking it over.
