Victor Wembanyama: 'I Do Care Deeply' About Winning NBA MVP

If I want to make my spot among the greats, I got to try to not miss any occasion to put my name up there. If Wembanyama were to win the award, he would be the youngest MVP in NBA history ahead of Derrick Rose who was 22 years and 211 days when he won in 2011. Wembanyama will be approximately 22 years and 130 days old in May. Wes Unseld also won the award when he was 22 years old and was in his rookie season. The Spurs have won 10 consecutive games overall and 15 straight contests in which Wembanyama has played. He has averaged 27.9 points and 12.3 rebounds during that run. Wembanyama has also recorded at least 15 rebounds in five straight games, the longest such stretch by a Spurs player since Dennis Rodman in 1995, surpassing benchmarks set by both Tim Duncan and David Robinson. Wow, Wembanyama said of the Rodman comparison. I watched a lot of highlights [of Rodman], mostly on the Bulls than anything else. They don't make them like [him] anymore. San Antonio sits at 58-18, trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder (60-16) by two games for the top Western Conference seed. The Spurs hold the tiebreaker with a 4-1 head-to-head advantage and six games remaining. Defending winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains the MVP award betting favorite. Steve Kerr, however, offered strong praise for Wembanyama following Wednesday's defeat. He's got unbelievable confidence now, Kerr said. He looks like he knows exactly what to do on both ends. His first couple years, he looked young at times. He doesn't look young anymore. He just looks like he knows exactly what he's doing. Dominated the glass. There's plays you can't do anything. Several lobs where it looked like a Nerf hoop. He's brilliant. Regardless of the MVP outcome, Wembanyama is widely viewed as a certain first-time Defensive Player of the Year winner. Wembanyama would become the fifth different player to win the award over the past five seasons.