Veteran NBA pundit Rob Parker launched a scathing attack on the integrity of NBA players, claiming that leaving San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama out of the MVP race stemmed from jealousy.
Parker’s rant came after The Athletic’s anonymous player poll for the 2026 MVP surprisingly snubbed the third-year center from its top five MVP candidates.
Rob Parker Livid With Victor Wembanyama Snub in the 2026 MVP Poll
The Athletic’s anonymous player poll results released on April 10 revealed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander taking 39% of the MVP vote, followed by Nikola Jokić (21.4%).
Aside from the three-way tie for third between Jaylen Brown, Luka Dončić, and Cade Cunningham, Wembanyama finished a distant sixth with just 5% of the vote, despite anchoring a 62-19 Spurs team that sits third in defensive rating (110.2).
During the latest segment of “The Odd Couple with Rob Parker & Kelvin Washington,” Parker rejected the poll results as a deliberate, emotional boycott against Wembanyama, stating, “The players are jealous. They are always getting in their feelings. They don’t want Wemby. We’re not pushing them to the front of the line.”
“Not only is he [Wembanyama] an offensive machine, he plays defense, too, and he’s not even in the top five? How could that possibly be that he’s not in the top five? It’s because they don’t want to crown him. They don’t want to say, ‘Wemby, you’re that guy.’”
“Jealousy reigns supreme. We’ve talked about it before… Players can’t be trusted. They have skin in the game,” Parker asserted. “Don’t ever allow players to vote on anything. They’ll never give you an honest view, an honest take.”
SEE ALSO: Former Lakers Guard Argues Victor Wembanyama Can Reach NBA GOAT Status, Under 1 Condition
Currently the overwhelming favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year, Wembanyama is on track to lead the league in blocks for a third consecutive year while averaging 25.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in 29.2 minutes. Beyond his production, the rim protection Wembanyama provides has completely transformed the Spurs into a Western Conference juggernaut.
The players’ poll contradicts Wembanyama’s self-assessment of his MVP caliber, which he laid out in March. “I think right now, there is a debate,” he said. “My goal is to make sure that there’s no debate anymore at the end of the season…”
Parker’s criticism of the anonymous player poll is the latest addition to the heated to-and-fro on the 2026 MVP debate, especially when it comes to Wembanyama’s chances of clinching the award ahead of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić.
