Victor Wembanyama finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks, and two steals Saturday night as his San Antonio Spurs beat the Charlotte Hornets, 115-102, the Spurs’ 17th win in their last 19 games. By now, stat lines like that barely register as unusual for the 22-year-old center.
What stood out came afterward.
Victor Wembanyama Declares Bold MVP and DPOY Ambitions
In a bold declaration, Wembanyama told reporters, “In my mind it’s taking great care of my body because I also want to win the MVP and defensive player of the year. I’m trying to press the gas now until the end of the season; really take care of my treatment, take care of my sleep, take care of my routine and show up for my team.”
The goal is as ambitious as it sounds. Only three players in NBA history have won both MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season: Michael Jordan in 1987-88, Hakeem Olajuwon in 1993-94, and Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2019-20.
Wembanyama is trying to make it four, and it doesn’t sound like a stretch given how his year is shaping up. Wembanyama’s numbers have pushed him firmly into the center of the MVP race. He’s averaging 24.3 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game, production that already places him among the league’s most impactful players on both ends of the floor.
Wemby:
“Right now in my mind is taking great care of my body cause I also want to win the MVP, and the DPOY. So I’m trying to press the gas from now until the end of the season” pic.twitter.com/0otDre8gp1
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) March 14, 2026
Since the All-Star break, his game has shifted into another gear. In March, he’s averaging 28 points, 11 rebounds, and more than four blocks per game while the Spurs have surged up the standings to 49-18, the second-best record in the Western Conference.
No wonder Wembanyama climbed to second on the NBA’s MVP Ladder this week, sliding ahead of Nikola Jokic and joining Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in what now looks like a legitimate three-man race.
Defensive Dominance Sets Wembanyama Apart
Defensively, the debate is far less crowded. Wembanyama is on a different planet.
The block totals are the most visible part of his impact. He is averaging 3.0 blocks per game this season, comfortably leading the league. How comfortable? The next-closest players trail him by more than a full block per game. But the effect stretches far beyond the stat sheet. Opponents alter entire offensive possessions just to avoid him.
“He’s not even human,” Jaylen Brown said recently, praising Wembanyama’s two-way dominance.
Even longtime defensive anchor Draymond Green has struggled to describe the scale of his impact. “Wemby is this otherworldly thing, man,” Green said on his podcast. “Everything that he does is going to take you like four people to do.”
If Wembanyama wins both awards, it would not only place him in a microscopic slice of NBA history but also at a remarkably young age. If the award announcements follow the usual schedule in June, Wembanyama would become the youngest MVP in league history, surpassing Derrick Rose.
Rose was officially named the winner of the 2011 trophy 211 days after his 22nd birthday. Wembanyama will be at most 148 days past his 22nd birthday on June 1, when the winner is usually announced.
Availability Is Critical to Wembanyama’s Award Hopes
One hurdle he has to cross to join this rare company is availability. The NBA requires players to appear in at least 65 games to qualify for major awards. Wembanyama has played 52 games so far, and the Spurs have 15 games left on their schedule. That means he can afford to miss only two more games to stay eligible for the award.
Individual trophies are not everything that Wembanyama is chasing this year, however. “What’s next is pretty straightforward,” he said Saturday. “We want to win everything.”
MORE: Fred VanVleet Dismisses Spurs’ Hype, Questions San Antonio’s Playoff Wins: ‘Slow the F**k Down’
That ambition once sounded premature for a franchise that hadn’t reached the playoffs since 2019. Now the Spurs are only three games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for the best record in the NBA, riding the kind of late-season surge that reshapes championship races.
At the center of it is a 7-foot-4 superstar who is openly chasing one of the rarest statistical doubles the league has ever seen. The gas pedal, as Wembanyama put it, is down. Now comes the final stretch.
