{"id":110368,"date":"2026-04-17T20:47:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T23:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/why-victor-wembanyama-is-my-mvp-and-who-else-should-win-all-nba-awards\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T20:47:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T23:47:50","slug":"why-victor-wembanyama-is-my-mvp-and-who-else-should-win-all-nba-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/why-victor-wembanyama-is-my-mvp-and-who-else-should-win-all-nba-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Victor Wembanyama is my MVP, and who else should win All-NBA awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The NBA\u2019s awards are too difficult, and the league should get worse. It\u2019s too hard parsing this many historically great players amongst each other, deciding which unique skillset and one-of-one athlete does cooler things with the basketball than the other one. It does sometimes feel like each criteria\u2019s flavor changes every season based on our human biases. There, I\u2019ve made my case against awards.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re also deeply important to the league\u2019s history, of course, which explains why I\u2019ve spent the past week pouring over this season\u2019s numbers and candidacies even though, unlike in the past, my ballot is but an unofficial one. These decisions are much harder, or at least they were for me, when my selections helped memorialize the players who earned these honors. I don\u2019t miss that, at least, especially seeing how difficult I already found it to write this column.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already named and argued for the non-MVP, non-team awards, which you can read here<\/a>. I\u2019ll summarize them with a tool from our ALL NBA Podcast<\/a>. You should fill out your own ballot here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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I ended up focusing on the MVP race, as we do every season, with unsaid arguments for many All-Team and All-Defense candidates that I\u2019m happy to elaborate on at a later point. You can reach me by email or Twitter, linked at the bottom, if you need those cases further fleshed out.<\/p>\n

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Victor Wembanyama<\/strong><\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Nikola Joki\u0107<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/strong>
    *Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As the NBA has evolved over the past couple decades, it\u2019s mixed statistical inflation with skill explosion. These are some of the most remarkable players we\u2019ve ever seen, point blank, duking it out every season for awards like Most Valuable. All four players atop this list, pending Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s extraordinary circumstances appeal to the 65-game rule that currently has him ineligible, would be worthy winners. You\u2019ve heard or read some sentiment of this dozens of times in the past weeks. I feel it\u2019s too important not to restate it again.<\/p>\n

    I chose Victor Wembanyama. It wasn\u2019t what I anticipated; I feel sick about this choice. As I type this, there are voices screaming out in my head: How could it not be Joki\u0107? Did you just rank Gilgeous-Alexander third? Are you utterly insane? <\/em>I will not fight anyone\u2019s alternate choice, not even one for Don\u010di\u0107, even if his candidacy probably has him the slimmest notch below those ahead of him. Since he\u2019s technically not eligible, let\u2019s avoid that conversation. Like I said, I cannot fight against any other argument, not in an awards race as tight as this one. I can only explain what methodology led me to make mine.<\/p>\n

    Wembanyama is the league\u2019s most influential defender: San Antonio allows about 13 fewer points per 100 possessions when he\u2019s on the court. Joki\u0107 is the league\u2019s most influential player on the other end: Denver scores about 15 more points per 100 possessions in his minutes. \u201cOn-off numbers can be basketball\u2019s strongest statistical measures,\u201d I wrote earlier this season<\/a> in an article about accurately using them. Gilgeous-Alexander, I should note, has the third-most influence on the court\u2019s offensive side: Oklahoma City scores 11 more points when he plays. I believe these are accurate measures of each player\u2019s hyperbolic impact on this sport.<\/p>\n

    Offense has historically mattered more than defense: Opponents can more easily detour around a gamebreaking defender than a generational offensive player. (I first typed offender<\/em> there; it dawned on me there\u2019s a good reason we don\u2019t use bisymmetry for these terms.) But there\u2019s no access road around Wembanyama\u2019s presence. He dwells in his opponent\u2019s minds hours or days before facing him; he created \u2018bioengineered\u2019 coaches<\/a> to account for him before he had even played his first game. What I laid out<\/a> for his Defensive Player of the Year candidacy still applies. His presence turns every opponent to D\u2019Antonists: These squads took more 3s, more often, with less effectiveness. Perhaps the most specific D\u2019Antonism ideology to describe these teams would be Game 7ists, an unfortunate sect most known for its maligned actions<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n

    I still almost ranked Joki\u0107 first. He\u2019s the best offensive player alive; imagine how demoralizing it must be to defenders to concede layups<\/em> from defensive possessions that, against any other opponent, coaches would applaud on film. The five-to-nine-foot shot breaks defensive schemes. That\u2019s where coaches want<\/em> you to shoot from! Joki\u0107 took more shots in that area (288) than any other player this season. Among players who attempted even 100 in that region, his 57.3 percent conversion rate of such shots ranked fourth.<\/p>\n

    In other words: If every single shot<\/em> Denver\u2019s offense took this season was Joki\u0107 taking the shot that opponents most often scheme to allow, without a single fast break or open 3 or foul or shot fake spun into a higher percentage layup, Denver would\u2019ve had the league\u2019s 16th-best offense. That is definitionally game breaking.<\/p>\n

    I still found myself stuck on one Joki\u0107 statistic: When Joki\u0107 and Jamal Murray shared the court, Denver\u2019s offense was ungodly, averaging more than 130 points per 100 possessions. When it was Murray alone, Denver fell to an excellent 119 points per 100. Without Murray, Joki\u0107 also created sublime offense as anticipated \u2026 but nothing better than Murray\u2019s. It was 119.3 points per 100 possessions, a hair higher than the only-Murray lineups, unquestionably exceptional but not quite representational of past seasons where Joki\u0107 was the most singular driver of this team\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

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    I\u2019ve named Joki\u0107 the league\u2019s second-best player this season. Every superstar should benefit from exceptional teammates; Murray will be recognized for his efforts this year later in this piece. The Murray-only lineups had more 3-point variance in Denver\u2019s favor, which Murray\u2019s blistering shooting season alone cannot explain. But we do understand Joki\u0107\u2019s performances had brief patches of inconsistency this season. His defensive impact, nowhere near as dismal as his detractors claim, did wax and wane. His turnovers occasionally spiked in atypical ways particularly in his return from injury.<\/p>\n

    I believe Joki\u0107 creates beneficial situations for his teammates to thrive as much as any player in the league. This season, however, he was slightly<\/em> less impactful than the best version of Joki\u0107 we\u2019ve seen, and his teammates were more influential in Denver\u2019s success than any prior year. It was enough, by a single hair, not to award him this accomplishment he has arguably deserved each of the past five seasons (even while winning thrice, of course).<\/p>\n

    That\u2019s because I can\u2019t find such similar pinpricks in Wembanyama\u2019s defensive presence. (And I do mean pinpricks; these are microplastic critiques.) Wembanyama\u2019s impact numbers came despite his overly qualified backup, Luke Kornet, a known defensive anchor who created great numbers (113 points allowed per 100) when he deputized for Wembanyama. It still was that much better<\/em> when Wembanyama took over for him. Which, at last, brings us to Wembanyama\u2019s defining argument: That what he does on the court\u2019s other side has its own scheme-breaking influence.<\/p>\n

    Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s staggering skill, rather, is that he creates easier<\/em> shots than his superstar peers while maintaining that divine shotmaking ability. You can picture it: Gilgeous-Alexander on his 15-foot platform, his defender feet away from him, rising up calmly within chaos, creating monasteries within a sport where such space has more value than gold. Once he has the ball with the floor spaced to his favor, he can create these shots at a whim. It\u2019s why, according to the NBA\u2019s gravity metric<\/a>, he garnered more attention off the ball<\/em> than any player in the league.<\/p>\n

    Joki\u0107\u2019s impact still felt every so slightly more than his. Perhaps that\u2019s unfair, and I do already hear the argument: How can Joki\u0107 benefit this much from Murray\u2019s season when Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s second-best scorer missed most of the year?<\/em> Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s influence has more weight than his counting stats even if they are inferior to Joki\u0107\u2019s. Denver\u2019s absolute ceiling is its offense, however, and I understand Joki\u0107\u2019s involvement in that. Gilgeous-Alexander single-handedly buoys his own squad\u2019s lesser unit, one which would collapse without him but still have its excellent on the other end. <\/p>\n

    I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s the right argument. I don\u2019t believe any argument between these three players should be declarative. These are, however, the reasons I chose to rank them in this order.<\/p>\n

    4. Donovan Mitchell
    5. Kawhi Leonard<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I\u2019m consistent in my rubric: I tend to weight on-off numbers, should they accurate tell<\/a> a player\u2019s story, more than most others. Mitchell\u2019s superb season, averaging nearly 28 points with essentially career best efficiency, made him this worthy of a candidate regardless. But when Mitchell stepped onto the court, Cleveland was the team we watched dominate the Eastern Conference last season. (It outscored opponents by more than eight points per 100 possessions.) Nearly everything that went wrong for the Cavaliers, especially earlier this season, happened when he wasn\u2019t on the court.<\/p>\n

    Leonard was another metronomic scorer, one who finished with his own 28-point average and a staggeringly efficient 62.9 percent True Shooting. He had even more on-court impact than anyone not named Wembanyama or Joki\u0107, but those numbers must be docked for his team\u2019s midseason trade and inconsistent direction, which often meant unserious bench lineups flooded his absences and boosted those numbers. That said, it was a spectacular season from 34-year-old Leonard.<\/p>\n

    ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM<\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Victor Wembanyama<\/strong><\/strong><\/li>\n
    2. Nikola Joki\u0107<\/strong><\/li>\n
    3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/strong><\/li>\n
    4. Donovan Mitchell<\/strong><\/li>\n
    5. Kawhi Leonard<\/strong><\/strong>
      *Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      It\u2019s the same as above, for the same reasons.<\/p>\n

      ALL-NBA SECOND TEAM<\/h2>\n
        \n
      1. Jalen Brunson<\/strong><\/strong><\/li>\n
      2. Jamal Murray<\/strong><\/li>\n
      3. Tyrese Maxey<\/strong><\/li>\n
      4. Kevin Durant<\/strong><\/li>\n
      5. Jaylen Brown<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Brunson was New York\u2019s offensive engine, not so dissimilar from Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s role but with more chemistry and defensive questions. His efficiency and 3-point percentage declined ever so slightly, too, which makes him a firm second-teamer without any candidacy to be listed higher. Murray\u2019s excellence was noted above; he drove Denver\u2019s success alongside Joki\u0107 and also carried them in his absence. By one metric, no one added more value through jump shots than him. Durant, second on that list, is another easy second teamer.<\/p>\n

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        Jaylen Brown\u2019s a mildly more complicated case, the one player whose on-off numbers paint another story, but I\u2019ve argued<\/a> was a necessary ingredient that unlocked Boston\u2019s surprising success this season. (Granted, Joe Mazzulla nabbed my Coach of the Year nomination<\/a> for this reason, too.) Tyrese Maxey had a messier second half mostly due to an excessive workload and his hand injury, but there\u2019s no question he belongs here. No player punishes defenders for rightly respecting when his body shapes for a 3-point that turns into blindingly quick downhill drives more than him.<\/p>\n

        ALL-NBA THIRD TEAM<\/h2>\n
          \n
        1. Chet Holmgren<\/strong><\/li>\n
        2. Jalen Duren<\/strong><\/li>\n
        3. James Harden<\/strong><\/li>\n
        4. LaMelo Ball<\/strong><\/li>\n
        5. Scottie Barnes<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Holmgren\u2019s one of the league\u2019s three best rim protectors and paired that with an amplifying offensive effect, too. Duren\u2019s emergence as Detroit\u2019s legitimate second scorer wasn\u2019t entirely unexpected, but it buoyed Detroit\u2019s season-long romp to the East\u2019s best record. Harden leveled back up in his age-36 season to provide creation and shotmaking we\u2019ve watched him deliver for years. I\u2019ve long respected him, his influence on the sport, and even his failures, too.<\/p>\n

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          i’ve always loved watching james harden. sometimes he’s a devastating hyperefficient sports machine built to clown your defenders, mathematically. sometimes he’s a hungover everyman who looks like the sleepiest athlete alive. how can you not like that.<\/p>\n

          \u2014 Tim Cato (@tim_cato) May 7, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

          <\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

          LaMelo Ball drove his team\u2019s surprising success more than anyone else we\u2019ve named thus far. Charlotte was 9.9 points better per 100 with him on the court; his breakdance dribble creates space that defenses must shift and account for unlike any other player in the league. And, to round out this list, I\u2019ve gone with Scottie Barnes over Derrick White, Karl-Anthony Towns, Bam Adebayo, and Devin Booker, who all had genuine cases. Barnes was the picture of two-sided excellence on a Toronto roster that orbited around his reliability.<\/p>\n

          ALL-DEFENSE TEAMS<\/h2>\n