By Sam Amick | The Athletic, 2026-03-19 11:39:50
萨克拉门托，加利福尼亚州——回答稍有延迟，仿佛维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 在分享他不加掩饰的真相前，正在权衡这个问题是否只是个反问。
“你会投给自己吗？”周二晚上，当这位圣安东尼奥马刺队的奇才离开黄金 1 号中心（Golden 1 Center）的客队新闻发布会现场时，我询问了他关于 MVP 竞争的看法。
他又顺着走廊走了两步，微微向左转身，然后毫无波澜地陈述了一个显而易见的事实。
“当然，”他在跳步离开前说道。
如果你直到现在还没注意到，这位在 NBA 黑暗时期成为亮点的 22 岁年轻人，拥有着一种坚持不懈且令人耳目一新的竞争精神。
他是身高 7 英尺 4 英寸（至少）的良药，治愈着联盟的一切顽疾；他是一道受欢迎的风景线，让人们从本赛季占据头条的工资帽违规指控、赌博争议和摆烂乱局中转移注意力。
去年 12 月底，他在 NBA 杯中制造了最精彩的争议，击败了卫冕冠军俄克拉荷马城雷霆队，并埋下了竞争的种子，此后这种竞争愈发激烈。两个月后，他在洛杉矶以奔放的热情单枪匹马挽救了全明星赛。本月早些时候，在对阵洛杉矶快船队完成 25 分大逆转后，他流露出了真情实感——而且这还只是常规赛。或者，回到当前的话题，他在北卡罗来纳州夏洛特接受 ESPN 直播采访时，宣布了自己想要赢得 NBA 年度最佳防守球员（他很可能赢得此奖）以及 MVP 荣誉的雄心，为常规赛收官阶段的奖项之争增添了纯粹的乐趣。
最后一部分内容让所有在五天前刚看过雷霆队的谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) 向尼古拉·约基奇 (Nikola Jokić) 及其丹佛掘金队发表非正式获奖感言的人感到惊讶。笔者本人也不例外。
然而，文班亚马一如既往地大胆且好斗，他觉得有必要提醒投票者，他仍有时间去震惊篮球世界。这仅仅是一个信号，预示着他在未来很长一段时间内都将创造精彩的篮球大戏。
当然，前提是保持健康。
正如文班亚马上个月与我们的贾里德·韦斯 (Jared Weiss) 详谈的那样，那次缩短了他第二个赛季的血栓经历让他产生了一种感激之情，这成了他每一个动作背后的驱动力。其结果似乎是，这位远比同龄人成熟的年轻人，在健康危机之前就已经动力十足，而现在他正从更深层次挑战自己的极限。
时间是有限的，未来是不确定的，那么为什么不在有机会的时候全力以赴呢？这种令人钦佩的能量源于他经历的医疗动荡和他天生的自信，为接下来的几周和几个月制定了一个大胆的议程，使得文班亚马和这支马刺队在各个方面都成为了必看焦点。
当马刺队（51 胜 18 负）本周达到 50 胜大关时，文班亚马毫不迟疑地宣布他希望球队能拿到 60 胜。当年度最佳防守球员（DPOY）看起来已是囊中之物时，他变得更有野心，开始谈论实现 MVP 的逆袭。这种心态和传递出的信号，让这支新锐球队一夜之间具备了争冠球队的姿态。
说实话，这支马刺队本不该谈论冠军。历史现实是，拥有如此多集体缺乏经验球员的球队不会去做这种事。然而，在经历了早期的质疑——当时他们被广泛认为是一支潜力股，可能在几年后迎来巅峰——之后，他们在季后赛开始前不到一个月的时间里，以全联盟第二好的战绩出现在这里，仅落后雷霆队 3.5 个胜场。单凭这一事实，就值得我们更仔细地审视 MVP 之争。
考虑到球队战绩一直是投票者考虑的因素，马刺队仍有可能超越雷霆队（55 胜 15 负）夺得联盟第一，并迫使人们讨论这意味着什么。文班亚马希望马刺队达到 60 胜，这是一个明确的信号，表明圣安东尼奥将继续发力，而雷霆队则很可能出于大局考虑而在收官阶段顺其自然。考虑到马刺队本赛季在面对面交锋中对雷霆队的统治力——五次交手四次获胜，包括前文提到的 NBA 杯半决赛——这些表现无疑对文班亚马有利。关于联盟的 65 场出场规定，文班亚马必须在马刺队最后 13 场比赛中至少出战 11 场才能留在竞争行列，而吉尔杰斯-亚历山大需要在雷霆队最后 12 场比赛中出战 8 场。
作为背景，在最近一次由媒体成员参与的 ESPN MVP 模拟投票中，文班亚马位列第四，排在吉尔杰斯-亚历山大、约基奇和底特律活塞队的凯德·坎宁安 (Cade Cunningham) 之后。通常这种投票能预示最终结果。随着活塞队近期表现略有下滑，而文班亚马势头强劲，有理由相信自 2 月 20 日那篇报道发布以来，他已经缩小了差距。郑重声明，我目前计划投票给吉尔杰斯-亚历山大，但我长期以来一直坚持一个个人原则，即等到最后一刻才做出最终决定。
从细微层面来看，吉尔杰斯-亚历山大和文班亚马谁对各自球队更有价值，这个哲学问题当然值得商榷。
在净效率波动（Net-rating swing）方面（这是观察一支球队在有无核心球员时表现的可靠方式），文班亚马拥有显著优势——他在场时马刺队的表现要好 16 分。相比之下，吉尔杰斯-亚历山大在场时雷霆队表现好 9.6 分。
文班亚马令人难以置信的防守是巨大的分水岭，那种前所未见的体型与技术的结合，以极具毁灭性的方式压缩了对方进攻的空间。就此而言，两名球员在防守效率上的波动也完全没有可比性。虽然雷霆队在吉尔杰斯-亚历山大不在场时表现略好（每百回合失分 105.2 分，他在场时为 106 分），但马刺队在文班亚马在场时每百回合少丢近 10 分（在场时失分 104 分，不在场时失分 113.4 分）。
然而，即使在这个大数据时代，基础数据依然非常重要，吉尔杰斯-亚历山大仍被广泛预测将连续第二个赛季锁定 MVP，尤其是在得分产出的差距上。
- SGA： 场均 31.5 分（联盟第二）、6.6 次助攻、4.5 个篮板、1.4 次抢断和 0.8 次盖帽。
- 文班亚马： 场均 24.2 分（联盟第 19）、11.1 个篮板、2.9 次助攻、3 次盖帽和 1 次抢断。
无论谁赢得 MVP，美好的现实是，这是文班亚马帮助解决近年来困扰 NBA 的竞争性问题的又一种方式。如果像他这样的精英球员每次出场都全力以赴，无论是像全明星赛这种许多人认为已经名存实亡的表演赛，还是大多数球队倾向于平稳收官的赛季末段，那么球迷们也会给予相应的回馈。
关于文班，最棒的部分是什么？从各方面来看，这仅仅是他的开始。
他了解这里的球队历史；这支在 16 个赛季中夺得 5 次总冠军、并创造了连续 22 年打进季后赛这一联盟纪录的马刺队，渴望重返总决赛舞台。从新秀赛季的 22 胜，到上赛季的 38 胜 44 负，再到如今，进步神速且看不到上限。
“季后赛篮球对我们来说仍然是一个梦想，”文班亚马在周二以 132-104 击败萨克拉门托国王队后说道。“有很多期待，但我们仍需活在当下，打好常规赛的 82 场比赛。我们不能跳过步骤。但这绝对超级令人兴奋。感觉又迈出了一步。作为一个孩子，你知道，这也是我梦想的事情，所以我已经在展望它了。但你必须活在当下。”
仿佛他知道这正是当今篮球世界所需要的。有人站出来反抗那些不受欢迎的常态，沉浸在竞争和宿敌关系的建立中，同时敢于梦想自己在这项运动中最终能达到什么成就。试想一下，如果文班亚马没有出现在这里，没有提供那一系列令人振奋的时刻，本赛季关于这个联盟的讨论会有多么不同。
他现在可能还不是这个联盟最有价值的球员，但他可能已经是这个联盟最有价值的人了。
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：Why Victor Wembanyama is the NBA's MVP — even if he doesn't win the award
Why Victor Wembanyama is the NBA’s MVP — even if he doesn’t win the award
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The answer came with a slight delay, as if Victor Wembanyama was deciding whether the question was rhetorical before sharing his unfiltered truth.
“Would you vote for yourself?” I asked the San Antonio Spurs phenom about the MVP race as he left the visitors’ news conference inside the Golden 1 Center on Tuesday night.
He took two more steps down the hallway, turned ever so slightly to his left, then chose to state the blatantly obvious without a hint of emotion.
“Of course,” he said before bounding on his way.
If you somehow haven’t noticed by now, the 22-year-old who has been such a bright spot in these dark NBA times is relentlessly and refreshingly competitive.
He’s the 7-foot-4 (at least) antidote to all that ails the Association, a welcome distraction from the salary-cap circumvention allegations, gambling controversies and tanking turmoil that have stolen so much of the spotlight this season.
If he wasn’t creating the best kind of controversy at the NBA Cup in late December, taking out the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder while planting seeds of a rivalry that has only grown more intense since, he was single-handedly saving the All-Star game in Los Angeles with his unbridled spirit two months later. Or sharing his raw emotion — in the regular season, no less — after a 25-point comeback win against the LA Clippers earlier this month. Or, to bring it back to the topic at hand, setting the stage for some wholesome awards fun down the home stretch by announcing his ambitions to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award (which he likely will) and the MVP honor.
That last part, which was shared during a live interview with ESPN three nights before in Charlotte, N.C., came as a surprise to anyone who had watched the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander give his unofficial acceptance speech to Nikola Jokić and his Denver Nuggets just five nights before. Yours truly included.
However, the mere fact that Wembanyama, audacious and pugnacious as ever, felt compelled to remind the voters that there was still time left for him to shock the basketball world was yet another sign that he’ll be creating wonderful hoops theater for a long time to come.
Health willing, of course.
As Wembanyama discussed at length with our Jared Weiss last month, the blood clot that cut his second season short inspired a sense of appreciation that is the driving force behind every move he makes. The effect, it seems, is that this wise-beyond-his-years young man, who was already wildly driven before his health scare, is now pushing his limits on an even deeper level.
Time is finite, and the future uncertain, so why not go for it all while you have the chance? That admirable energy, born of the medical chaos he endured and his innate confidence, has created a bold agenda for the coming weeks and months that makes Wembanyama and these Spurs an absolute must-watch in every right way.
When the Spurs (51-18) reached the 50-win mark this week, Wembanyama wasted no time in declaring his desire for them to get to 60. When it seemed clear that DPOY was in his sights, he got greedy and started talking about pulling off an MVP upset. That sort of mindset, and messaging, has propelled this up-and-coming team into title-contender status overnight.
Truth be told, these Spurs have no business talking about titles. The historical reality is that teams with this much collective inexperience don’t do that sort of thing. Yet after all the skepticism that came their way early on, when they were widely seen as a promising group that might have its time a few years from now, here they are with the second-best record in the league — only 3 1/2 games behind the Thunder — with less than a month to go before the playoffs begin. That fact alone warrants a closer look at the MVP race.
Considering team success is always a factor in the minds of voters, there’s still a scenario in which the Spurs overtake the Thunder (55-15) for the league’s best record and force a conversation about what that might mean. Wembanyama’s desire for the Spurs to reach 60 wins is a clear sign that San Antonio will keep pushing, while the Thunder might very well coast to the finish with the bigger picture in mind. And considering the Spurs’ dominance over the Thunder in head-to-head matchups this season — four wins in five meetings, including the aforementioned NBA Cup semifinal — those optics would certainly be in Wembanyama’s favor. As it relates to the league’s 65-game eligibility rule, Wembanyama must play in at least 11 of the Spurs’ final 13 games to stay in this race, while Gilgeous-Alexander needs to play in eight of the Thunder’s final 12.
For context, Wembanyama finished fourth — behind Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokić and the Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham — in the most recent ESPN MVP straw poll of media members, which has typically predicted the eventual outcome. And with the Pistons falling off ever so slightly of late, while Wembanyama has surged, it’s reasonable to believe that he has cut the gap since that story was published on Feb. 20. For the record, I’m currently planning on voting for Gilgeous-Alexander but have long held a personal policy of waiting until the very end to make a final decision on that front.
At the granular level, the philosophical question of whether Gilgeous-Alexander or Wembanyama is more valuable to their respective teams is certainly debatable.
In terms of net-rating swing, which is a reliable way of seeing what a team looks like with and without its best player, Wembanyama has a significant edge — the Spurs are 16 points better with him. In comparison, the Thunder are 9.6 points better with Gilgeous-Alexander.
Wembanyama’s incredible defense is the great separator here, that never-before-seen combination of size and skill that shrinks the floor in such devastating ways for opposing offenses. To that point, the swing in defensive rating between the two players isn’t even close, either. While the Thunder have actually been marginally better with Gilgeous-Alexander off the floor (105.2 points allowed per 100 possessions, compared to 106 when he plays), the Spurs have allowed nearly 10 points fewer per 100 when Wembanyama is playing (104 allowed per 100 on vs. 113.4 off).
Yet the counting stats, which certainly matter a great deal even in this age of analytics, are where Gilgeous-Alexander is still widely projected to seal the MVP deal for a second consecutive season, especially when it comes to the disparity in scoring output.
- SGA: 31.5 points (second in the league), 6.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.8 blocks per game.
- Wembanyama: 24.2 points (19th), 11.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, three blocks and one steal per game.
Regardless of who wins MVP, the beautiful reality is that this is yet another way Wembanyama is helping to fix the competitiveness issues that have plagued the NBA in recent years. If elite players like him are going to give it their all every time out, whether it’s an exhibition like the All-Star game that so many had left for dead or the late-season span during which most teams tend to cruise to the finish line, then the fans will respond in kind.
The best part of it all when it comes to Wemby? By all appearances, this is just his beginning.
He knows the organizational history here; the Spurs franchise that won five titles in 16 seasons and made the playoffs for a league-record 22 consecutive years yearns to be back on that NBA Finals stage. From 22 wins in his rookie campaign to a 38-44 mark last season to now, the progress has come quickly with no limits in sight.
“Playoff basketball is still a dream for us,” Wembanyama said after Tuesday’s 132-104 win over the Sacramento Kings. “It’s a lot of anticipating, but we’ve still got to stay in the moment and attack 82 games of the regular season. We can’t skip steps. But it’s definitely super exciting. It feels like another step. As a kid, you know, this is also something I dreamed of, so I’m already predicting on it. But you’ve got to stay in the moment.”
It’s as if he knows that this is exactly what the basketball world needs now. Someone to push back against the unpopular norms, to revel in the competition and the creation of rivalries while daring to dream about what he can ultimately achieve in this game. Just imagine how different the conversation about the league might be this season if Wembanyama hadn’t been there to provide his remarkable series of mood-lifting moments.
He probably won’t be the league’s most valuable player just yet, but he might already be its most valuable person.
By Sam Amick, via The Athletic