Victor Wembanyama ponders where the NBA prize threshold should be as he does quick math after the game
Victor Wembanyama’s numbers are absurd. The 22-year-old 7-foot-4 San Antonio Spurs center is averaging 25 points, 11.5 rebounds and a league-leading 3.1 blocks per game.
But perhaps more impressive are the numbers in his head.
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Because the French native wowed with lightning-quick calculations Friday night while discussing the NBA’s 65-game minimum required for awards eligibility.
“Of course, the alien got it all right,” a reporter said as Wembanyama made a series of on-the-fly calculations while pondering his position on the matter.
The rally began on the heels of Wembanyama’s 40-point, 13-rebound performance, which helped his Spurs, now at 62 wins, defeat the Dallas Mavericks 139-120. While securing his fifth 40-piece of the season, Wembanyama recorded his 65th qualifying appearance, meaning he will officially be eligible for annual awards, including the NBA MVP.
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The Spurs’ third-year standout was in danger of missing the 65-game mark after suffering a bruised left rib in an April 6 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. He missed just one game before returning to action Friday against the Mavs, a game he later said he “definitely wouldn’t have played” had he already qualified for year-end awards consideration.
In a postgame discussion with reporters, Wembanyama elaborated on the fact that Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Dončić are not currently eligible for this season’s NBA awards (Dončić, however, is challenging the rule).
“If those three aren’t — I mean, especially Cade and Luka — in the end-of-season awards, it certainly won’t reflect their impact on the season,” Wembanyama said, via Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “But at the same time, in my opinion, it’s good to have a threshold, a limit. Where should we put it? I don’t know. It’s a good question.”
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Then Wembanyama posed a question to the assembled media.
“What percentage of the season… do you think should be the limit?” he said.
One reporter suggested 75-80%. Another responded with two-thirds, or about 67%. Some said 70%. One chimed in to say they don’t think there should be a minimum.
It was then that a contemplative Wembanyama became a human calculator.
“If a guy plays 50 games, 35 minutes per game, that’s 50 times 35, or 1,750 [minutes]Right? Is that right?” Wembanyama said. “If a guy plays 75 games in 20 minutes, that’s 1,500 [minutes]. So it’s a good vision, in my opinion, to have no limits. It’s an opinion.
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“75% of the games, in my opinion, would be logical, and that would be 61.5 games, right? So, 62 games.”
You can do the math yourself if you want, but everything is verified. Reporters in the room also informed Wembanyama of this, and he chuckled.
Soon after, he went back into analysis mode.
“So there are some interesting questions,” Wembanyama said, via Weiss. “But obviously I don’t think an exception will be made for this year. I think that would be a little unfair, but we’ll see how it plays out.”
The Spurs big man has been in the running for NBA MVP all season and has made his case, although in an anonymous player poll conducted by The Athletic, the reigning MVP, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, garnered the most votes to win the league’s most prestigious award this season.
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Wembanyama’s math skills won’t help his MVP resume, but they’re another notch on his giant belt.