At this point, it appears the MVP race is limited to just four players: Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic, and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wambayama.
This is certainly one of the closest contests in NBA history, and it could go down to the last game of the regular season.
Of these four, Vembanyama may be the underdog – as crazy as it sounds. He acknowledged that at the moment, "it's still fair to have debate" over who should be named MVP. However, he is eager to change it.
"My goal is to make sure there's no debate at the end of the season," the two-time All-Star said.
When 22-year-old Vembanyama was asked to give three arguments for winning the trophy, he gave a thoughtful answer that should get him more votes.
"My first suggestion would be that defense is 50% of the game, and it's been underrated so far in your race. I believe I'm the most dominant player defensively in the league," Vembanyama said in a video posted by Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
"My second argument would be that we have almost swept OKC on the season. We have dominated them three times with their actual team and four times with their rotation players. My third argument would be that the impact of the offense is not just points."
Asked Wembley to provide his 3 campaign bullet points on why he should be MVP https://t.co/HjRppaPLfY pic.twitter.com/FHXrFMjAi3
- Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) 24 March 2026
Vembanyama practically dropped the mic with his sharp response.
With him remaining relatively healthy, the Spurs ended their six-year playoff drought. As he noted, his overall impact on both ends of the floor is hard to overstate.
Wembanyama admits he is one of them, and he has a good chance to surpass former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose and become the youngest MVP in league history.
