San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama targets MVP after 41-point display
San Antonio Spurs centre Victor Wembanyama has reiterated his desire to win the NBA Most Valuable Player award after recording 41 points and 18 rebounds in a 127-113 victory over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old French international produced a commanding performance as his team secured a 10th consecutive overall win.
Following the road victory, the towering rim protector stated that securing the league’s most prestigious individual honour is firmly on his agenda.
“I do care deeply about it,” Wembanyama told ESPN.
“I think that of the greats that are in the Hall of Fame, they have fought and grabbed everything they could grab early on in their career. If I want to make my spot among the greats, I gotta try to not miss any occasion to put my name up there.”
Chasing Rodman and the number one seed
The triumph against a depleted Warriors side marked the second-year star’s 15th consecutive victory when featuring on the court.
He has now registered 15 or more rebounds in five successive fixtures, continuing a historic run of statistical dominance.
That remarkable sequence makes him the first Spurs player to achieve the rebounding feat since Dennis Rodman in 1995.
In doing so, the former Metropolitans 92 standout surpassed the career-best four-game streaks of San Antonio franchise legends Tim Duncan and David Robinson.
“I watched a lot of highlights of Rodman, mostly on the Bulls than anything else,” Wembanyama said of the statistic.
“They don’t make them like him anymore.”
Thunder battle and defensive dominance
San Antonio are currently enjoying an outstanding late-season surge, having won 26 of their past 28 matchups.
This run of form has applied intense pressure on the Oklahoma City Thunder for the top seed in the Western Conference.
Oklahoma City hold a two-game advantage with six fixtures remaining, but San Antonio possess the tiebreaker due to a superior head-to-head record.
While Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains the MVP favourite, the San Antonio talisman is already considered a certainty for his first Defensive Player of the Year accolade.
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr praised the imposing centre’s rapid development and defensive presence after witnessing Wednesday’s display firsthand.
“He’s got unbelievable confidence now,” Kerr explained.
“He looks like he knows exactly what to do on both ends. Several lobs where it looked like a Nerf hoop; he’s brilliant.”