[Tom Orsborn] Wemby states his case for MVP:
We need the OKC/Spurs series
I thrive off of internet toxicity. My god, it would be a dream
This place would be unbearable
We survived series with the toxicity of Denver and Minny fans we have been prepared for this level of toxicity lmao š¤£ the game threads turn to Chernobyl
You’re forgetting about the Pacers. I’m not sure a team will ever be as beloved by neutrals as the Pacers during that insane run. Felt like picking a fight with Santa Claus trying to root against them in the finals
Truth. They fucking knocked us out (AGAIN) and I went from hating to being all in on them by the time the Knicks series started.
Conversely, Hali’s game 7 injury (after those 3s to start) put me off watching basketball for a good while afterwards. To piggyback off your analogy, it was like watching Santa rolling up on his sleigh with your presents, and then being murdered with a hammer before he could slide down the chimney. Heartbreaking stuff.
Speaking of which, where is all the jokic propaganda? All the sudden it’s like he doesn’t exist
Its refreshing honestly
Letās not forget how cruel the basketball gods truly are. I remember back when people were just craving the Battle of LA series a few years back and the Clippers just had to sell a 3-1 lead lmao
the discourse between spurs fans and okc/heat/houston fans is worse on twitter.
Qa555606881
After SGA gets the MVP award. ;) I wanna see how Wemby reacts to that.
Give Chet the dpoy too, I want to see what completely unhinged psychotic Wemby looks like in a playoff series.
No yāall donāt. Compete annihilation.
by destroying the playoffs to win the chip
With SGA being MVP as added motivation. If by some act of god, Chet went in as DPOY, Iād frankly like our chances even more lol
Vicās had DPOY locked up for months, just needs to hit the requirement
Ausar likely finishes ahead of Chet now
it would be a reverse Hakeem/Robinson situation. Wemby will go nuclear
I have a feeling the Spurs are going to be in the Western conference finals
Wow that’s a crazy prediction bro. It’s not like they’re the clear 2nd seed or anything…
I respect his arguments but probably not this season big guy š
Yeah but I do need him to keep believing he deserves it because I feel like him losing the award will lead to him giving us one of the greatest playoff performances of all time.
Ironically, he might do to OKC what Hakeem did to the Spurs after losing the MVP to DRob.
But his MVP competition is a guard lol. They do completely different things to impact winning.
If he looses the MVP, maybe he trains with ninja assassins during the offseason.
people keep talking about wilt’s 100 but i could see wemby breaking jordan’s 63 playoff record
If I were a betting man my money is on him winning next year as narrative plays a huge part and I expect him to take a leap to about 30PPG next year
If Wemby is scoring 30 PPG with his defensive impact, Jesus himself would not have a realistic case to be the MVP.
Yeah, but did Jesus score 83 points in a game?
He was too busy being up on the boards.
10⁄10 Jesus joke. They’d crucify you in the Middle Ages.
Jokic fans 30/20/20
I also don’t know he’s ever scoring that in this system but would love to be wrong
I could see him scoring 25 most games and then dropping a 50 piece every 2 weeks
LeBron is then because he has had insane years esp that Miami year where he was unanimous minus that one salty ahhh NY mf who hated him and straight up said he would never vote for LeBron for MVP. But next year, yeah vote fatigue is too big to bring joker back in even though joker is clearly the best player stat wise and has been for half a decade
Jesus beat the Spurs already with a stepback three in game 6Ā
30 PPG with that D and I wouldn’t be convinced it’s not the reincarnation of Jesus Christ himself.
Pretty much. I think for several years it will just come down to how many games Wemby plays. If he’s healthy enough to be on the court for 70+ games with his defensive impact then the award is as good as his. So far this season for example he’s already missed a little under a quarter of the games played.
Plus we have to factor in voter fatigue. I think Shai gets it this year and unless he goes fucking nuclear all next year it’ll be Wemby.
62/40/90 next year on 33/7/7 should do it
Whole team’s injured and he’s playing 1v5… maybe
Yeah it seems 2-3 MVPs and then voters move on. Personally I’m cool with that, there are plenty of great players that deserve a spotlight. After 3 spotlights we all know what’s up.
His scoring rate is already almost that high, the Spurs have just kept him at lower minutes for various reasons. He’s 18th in ppg but 6th in pts per 100, just ahead of ANT who’s scoring 29.5ppg.
heāll get it next season. I think folks are right when theyāre saying itās not his time yet
He’s only 22 he’s got time, the fact he’s in the convo already is enough for now lol
He’s either the MVP or he isn’t. This “It ain’t his time yet” is some seniority bullshit to signal self-importance by the voters that they won’t let someone too young win one if there is a single close contestant because the suspense drives engagement and keeps the blog boys employed.
He isn’t.
right, this could be his best season of his career
I donāt knowā¦ I think heās legitimately the MVP. If you are re-drafting the entire league right now and you have the 1st pick of the draftā¦ if you take anyone other than Wemby you are a buffoon. I think every single GM would take Wemby at 1. He single handedly made the spurs a real contender (yes others have stepped up their game too, but he was the main factor.) The Wemby factor is REAL on defense.
okc fans are just getting a taste of how much they will hate this mfer
Chet has been training with local monks (farmers) to counter wembys training from Ras al Guul
That farm boy strength ain’t nothing to mess with
Mennonite Muscle
I think i read that article.Ā
Chet āFalconeā Holmgren
Amish Chet is going to be a menace.
Oh trust me we know lmao š¤£ that is why I am glad we struck when the iron was hot last year and hopefully pull off another chip this year as this man will be like the boogey man for a lot of teams
nah next one is 50 years away at least, OKC was a fluke
Seriously dick riding a team cause your team got wiped is crazy work
Timberwolves fans just hate OKC and don’t care about anything else lmao
Still mad OKC chewed em up and spat them out when it was supposed to be their time, and theyād finally constructed the roster to beat Jokic.
The 2nd round Denver series had more fight than the WCF Wolves š Bros thought they had OKC figured out after G3
Respectable.
I think OKC is already there lol. The rest of the league’s still in the golden boy phase.
I mean, he’s French. Everyone should already hate him, what are we even doing here? He’s like a more insufferable Rudy Gobert.
Wemby doing his tiny desk concert.
Iām surprised he hasnāt had a rap song by a mumble rapper dedicated to him yet.
Reggie Miller should release one, he mumbles Wembanyama’s name every Spurs game he covers
Since he can barely pronounce Wemby’s name, it would probably be like
“Cooking like a chef at Benihana, it’s no other than the Alien Wembayana”
Ew bro
āoffense impact is not just pointsā
he know shai has a better fg% than him despite him being 7ā3
shai also averages more assists than him
shai also averages less turnovers than him
sga leads wemby in every stat and % besides rebounds and blocks
Guard leads center in all stats except the center stats. Also wins, with a more injured team.Ā
Why do people act like this is complicated or close?Ā
Is anyone actually arguing the point (with the exception of Wemby making the case for himself)? Even the Spurs fans in here have largely conceded it Shaiās award this year.
I think itās mostly spurs fans but I get the sense that thereās some others that are OKC haters that say it too
But youāre right thereās no serious contention that sga isnāt mvp
because there is more to basketball then counting stats?
This sub will still eat this up after crucifying Embiid for daring to say he should be MVP over Jokic lol
Straw man work here lol
If anybody else gave this interview this sub would be ridiculing them for being cheesy
You are right, and SGA is a better offensive player, but one thing on offense that the stats aren’t quantifying well yet is gravity. And I watch a ton of both OKC and the spurs. This isn’t a slight on SGA, he’s been great. I’m also not a spurs fan, but I do think Wemby is the best player in the league.
Victor’s actual best offensive skill isn’t a stat yet. His best skill on offense is that the opposing teams big can’t leave his body which creates driving lanes for the guards, who are absolute attack dogs. Victor can shoot the 3, so they have to stay with him on the perimeter, and if his defender detaches from his body around the rim to provide help defense it’s a dunk every time. It’s not an assist but it might as well be. His offensive impact is better than his stats for sure.
He also sneaky averages pretty close to SGA in points per 36, 30 vs 34 (not quite as efficiently)
SGA and jokic are better offensive players. but the gap between their impact offensively isn’t nearly as wide as the gap between them defensively in Wemby’s favor.
Yeah but what about screen assists??
Checkmate!
We’re on the campaign trail!! Get my goat a baby to kiss and the award is in the bag
People are going to hate this guy once spurs are seen as a real contender. The frenchmen in him canāt help but speak his mind and what he believe and Americans hate that shit and like more PR/fake humble guys š
Americans dont like anything. They also hate PR/fake humble.
Though if he wins enough he’ll then be able to say whatever he wants
Good.
Real contender?
They must hate him now then
Spurs play the hospital Grizzlies next. That might be the closest thing we can get to a baby.
I can’t wait for SGA to play 65 games so we can stop pretending anyone else has a case, y’all embarrassed Luka already
Shai is the BITW til someone takes him off the perch.
It comes quick. People thought Jokic was pretty untouchable. Wemby will be right on SGAs hammer next year.
I respect it honestly. Still think it should be SGA but bros not wrong.
He answered pretty well for having to think of three big reasons on the spot. If anyone has an issue with what he said, blame the reporter.
I hope most thunder fans think this level headed
Most fans are level headed. Those just aren’t usually the ones posting or trying to farm up karma lol
Only a matter of time until this guy is one of the most hated players in the world
āYeah of course he has 6 MVPs, 7 rings and 9 DPOY, heās like 8 feet tall. It would be embarrassing if he didnāt.ā
I will be pulling this out at every opportunity, entirely shamelessly
I 100% rather a star talk his shit and be cocky or confident then give the same boring PR answers
And to add, thereās a difference for me between being an arrogant and obnoxious about it and being realistic and truthfulā¦ like yeah, heās glazing himself but everything he said is straight facts
To be honest I really donāt mind if heās arrogant either, I welcome it. Definitely beats boring
I don’t think it’s happening this season, Wemby.
Just try settling for winning Finals MVP instead.
Fuck the MVP, get the championship
Jerry West, is that you?
I love that heās actually embracing it.
Too often we see the stars act like they donāt care.
WEMVP Wemby DPOY Mitch Johnson COTY Keldon Johnson 6MOY Dylan Harper ROY
GSG
I donāt really mind the idea that the first 7ā5ā guy with insane biological advantages for this game to also have NBA level talent is going to be the most impactful and maybe ābestā player when he reaches his prime. I donāt really mind him being competitive at the same time and answering questions in a way that promotes himself.Ā
But I think a lot of people would lose their minds to hear this talk from a lot of other players. I still remember when Embiid did this stuff and it was shameless campaigning that no one wanted to hear.Ā
yeah, he didnāt do anything āwrongā - anyone whoās even in the mvp conversation is obviously going to believe that they should be the mvp and heās answering the question asked. but itās interesting how for wemby itās cool that he openly cares, but any other player that advocates for themselves to win an award would not be received well.
Itās no secret that the media tends to flock around their darling children. Joker and Wemby for now, and once Wemby finds success, then he loses, they will turn on him and find their next new shiny thing. Itās a cyclical act as old as Bron.
Thats because Embiid is a disgrace to basketball. Hes 10x worse than SGA with the foul baiting and crying despite being a foot taller and 100 pounds heavier. Id say Luka and SGA are in similar terms of playing a game I dont respect but Embiid might be the worst of all time.
Love Wemby. Heās gonna be in the MVP race for years to come
you never know this could be his best season of his career
Iām grasping at straws here but they didnāt sweep the season series. We won once š
He said almost to be fair
Oh true I didnāt hear that the first lmao
Thatās why he said almost swept
He said “almost” - we good now?
Lakers won 2 games in a row against us last year, one game we lost by 20, we lost to the Hornets (good team) this year by 30. Let Wemby talk.. if him and the Spurs beat OKC in the playoffs, great for them and this sub
Enjoyed it while it lasts, but the Wemby honeymoon phase is about to be over. If the Spurs got eliminated early, this interview will surface again and the fans will start turning on him.
I think it will end once the spurs start putting BTA on the rest of the league. Thunder fans got the fast track to Wemby hate in December / January. I canāt stand this cocky French motherfucker but dammit Iām afraid of him š
I was watching okc vs wizards the other day. I can’t stand SGA either but damn he’s so fucking good š
Whatās he referring to about himself when he says offensive is not just points? Heās averaging less assists than the other MVP candidates
Offensive gravity, teams need to react to him, and it creates good looks. He also gets or contributes to so many stops defensively, those often turn into fast breaks for the spurs
I feel pretty confident that JokiÄ, Luka, and Shai all create way more good looks for their teammates than he does
Coz you don’t know shit about basketball. You think assist is the only way you’ve created an open look for your teammates.
Whenever you are watching a game, don’t just watch who has the ball. Watch how all 5 of them moves.
One of our fav plays is based purely off Wembys gravity and it ends up with an open look for a 3 like 50% of the time, and wemby never touches the ball
We run it because it wins us games, Wemby is cool not scoring 30 every night if it means weāre winning
And to be clear not saying running through a single scorer (I.e. Jokic) isnāt good just that this is the type of offense weāre running and Wembyās contributions go unnoticed by the stat sheet in this regard
Sure, but the difference in defense more than makes up for it, and their not generating the same type of fast break advantages that Wemby generates
Iām not talking about defense. He said āoffense is more than points.ā
Heās a way less efficient scorer than Luka, Shai, and Jokic, and averages way less assists than the 3.
Also Jokic generates more fast break points than anyone in the league so idk what his point could even be
Is it really that hard to come up with something to think about? They have to play different defensively because he exists. His defender canāt help because they have to be physical and an off-ball defender has to shift over to Wemby to help defend/intercept the catch, meaning less on-ball help defense and slower close outs. Wemby gets 0 in the stat book for this, but his entire team gets a better look just because of it. This is just one potential example. Itās like w/ Steph the defender has to stay on Steph and not help defend a driver.
Iām not saying I necessarily agree with him but it should be pretty obvious to think of something he means.
If itās gravity (that doesnāt lead to assists) , why is their offense only four points per 100 possessions better with him on the court than off the court? Thatās also worse than the other MVP candidates he’s way
Idk, Iām not saying heās right, Iām just saying it isnāt hard to think of things he does potentially better or as well as other players on offense besides scoring. Heās also obivously going to say heās the best, like what do you want him to say? āActually SGA is the mvp and I have no shotā? Like cmon bro, youāre acting all bewildered that heās making a case for himself lol.
Databallr have his on/off offense below Shai but above Luka, with Jokic dominating. While Wemby absolutely dominate on defense which gives him the highest net and on/off net.
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fr2fvgh5wy7qg1.jpeg
Obviously those three are better passes than Wemby but I think Wemby creates as many as those three do itās just that his teammates get the assists. Also Wemby isnāt a bad or unwilling passer.Ā
If you think Wemby creates as much as JokiÄ, then thereās no point in discussing. Thatās an indefensible take
So does Shai and Luka lol and more so, their gravity is insane
Coz he plays off ball. Many spurs assists happened because of his offensive gravity by rolling to the basket. Yeah Steph Castle will get the assist for throwing it to an open Champagnie three, but the KEY of the play was Wemby rolling to the basket bringing 3 defenders with him because he’s automatic on lobs.
See?? Wemby created that offensive play. But he gets credited with none because he doesn’t have the ball in his hands.
If this is true, then why is the Spurs offense only four points per 100 possessions better with Wemby on the court? Thatās worse than all the other mvp candidates
Because they are talented mfers. They could still generate looks without Wemby. And you could say it’s the result of Wemby’s willingness to play off ball and not needing the ball in his hands 24⁄7. His whole team gets some rhythm and they play with more confidence.
He frequently gets double and triple team leaving the other spurs openĀ
but compared to JokiÄ Luka Shai?
I mean heās averaging 3 assists a game. Shai almost averages 7, Lukaās 8-9, and Jokic over 10. He pales in comparison to them
Do you just ignore the third defender tagging Wemby off ball when he rolls to the basket leading to open corner 3s?Ā
Again. Same thing happens to Shai and Luka and they pass their way out of it way more effectively than Wemby (for now)
Famous cutter and lob threat Luka Doncic? Famous movement shooter Luka Doncic? Luka does provide spacing but Luka isnāt providing near Steph Curry levels of off ball shooting gravity. Ā
Shai moves off ball here and there but he isnāt a cutter inside or a movement shooter he at most does off ball curls or Iverson cuts to get the ball and then destroy teams from there once he gets it.Ā
Again Wemby doesnāt have the ball enough in order to record an assist or hockey assist from his off ball movement threat.Ā
So same thing as the other mvp candidates
His insane gravity when heās anywhere near the rim. Teams often do not help off onto our guards when theyāre attacking the rim purely because they canāt afford to give Victor a modicum of space. He also has absurd gravity on his pick and rolls. Leaves wide open jumpers off the skip pass to the corner which our guards are getting very good at reading.
NBA has actually started tracking and made public offensive gravity this season, where Wemby lags behind SGA in all 4 categories of on ball perimeter, on ball interior, off ball perimeter and off ball interior.
https://www.nba.com/inside-the-game/player/gravity?dir=D&sort=AVGGRAVITYSCORE
First of all, yes, his “playmaking” ability is still not as good as Jokic or SGA. No doubt about that. He still has many areas to improve, and his dominance is still highly attributed to his superior physical advantage.
On the other hand, in Spurs system where the players will try to make the extra pass, the person who created the disruption on defense (e.g. Wemby) does not necessarily pass to the guy who ultimately shoot, so the stat sheet does not record such playmaking as assist.
Most team rely on their star player to deliver the ball to the open man to make their shots. Spurs (and some other teams) want all players involved in the playmaking.
SGA assist numbers take a hit for this exact same reason. OKC swings the ball around a ton.
Stuff that isn’t in stat sheets.
I don’t think he’s saying that his offensive impact is on par with Luka Shai or Jokic but only that his points are lower because of MPG and his gravity in offense doesn’t translate very well in stats too.
Which is pretty true imo.
Bro itās Shai
His 3rd point is why SGA is still ahead of him for MVP this season.
“Offense is not just points” - It’s also play making, lack of turnovers and efficiency. SGA is not only well ahead on points but is clear by a wide margin in all offensive metrics including self creating almost all of his scoring and doing it insanely consistently.
There is a DPOY award, there is no OPOY award. MVP has always been offensively slanted due to the DPOY awarding the best defensive player. Defense certainly still matters in MVP, but it’s not 50% of the MVP award. Impact metrics that look to capture overall impact on both sides of the court like EPM favor SGA this season.
Sorry Wemby, you are a very deserving of 2nd in MVP voting and will probably enter next season as the front runner but barring something crazy happening SGA has been historic this season - passing Wilts consecutive 20pt game record, most clutch player in the league, 30+ppg on 55% from the floor and near 55/40/90 season, 67% TS as a guard, leading in advanced stats, best record in the league on one of the most injured teams - honestly the list just goes on.
Wemby has put the league on notice and will no doubt get his in future but this season in totality it’s been SGA.
There is a DPOY award, there is no OPOY award. MVP has always filled that gap, it’s always been offensively slanted due to the DPOY already awarding the best defensive player. Defense is certainly not nothing and it still matters in MVP, but it’s not 50% of the MVP award.
This is the problem with MVP, it’s just a rebranded Offensive Player of the Year, which makes no sense.
Imo there should be both OPOY and DPOY awards, so the MVP award can truly be about impact and value. MVP should reward the best two-way player in the league and take into account both the player’s and his team’s stats, rather than the best offensive powerhouse.
Kinda like the Ballon D’Or in soccer. Not saying the Ballon D’Or award is always fair, if anything it’s as skewed as the current MVP, but at least the criteras to win it are clear. Which isn’t the case with the MVP award, it’s always so ambiguous.
If we’re talking impact the best impact metrics EPM, RAPM, WS/48 etc all show SGA as the more impactful player this season.
But the OPOY would probably be the MVP most of the time, and the debate would still exists.. that wouldn’t change much I fear.
If the voters were fair, it wouldn’t be always the case.
For example, if one player is the best offensive player but don’t defend well (like luka), one is the best defensive player but has poor offense (think of gobert before wemby arrived), and one is neither but he’s top 3-5 in both, then the latter would deserve to be MVP over the 2 first guys.
Plenty of offensive heavy guys theyāre still way more valuable than a two way guy. I donāt think having an opoy would change the mvp outcomes much if at all
Youāre kinda underselling SGAs offensive impact. The only guys whoāve had seasons like this as guards are Curry and MJ, and thatās the end of the list.
Wemby would make such sick posts/comments if he was on NBA Reddit
Watch out, KD! Get ready to pass the torch to Wemby.
Wemby doesn’t need burner accounts. He is French.
Never said burnerā¦ just wanna hear his takes lol. Heās thoughtful and intelligent
No need to give fuel to okc, just let it go bro
I love it and his confidence! Right on time. The boys are on a 12-game heater against some bums and are probably getting a bit lackadaisical. They need this fuel for the postseason
SGA would never do this.
It’s like they are two different people or something.
He definitely wouldn’t be in MVP conv at 22 yes
I am completely curious, would you take LeBron at 22 or Wemby? If LeBron had the same career progression from there even, like straight up he has the same career he had. 4 time MVP, 10 finals with 8 straight, 4 titles. His whole career. Or are you this high on Wemby?
If Wemby doesn’t get injured, I’m taking Wemby. He will be better than LeBron if he plays enough.
8000 comments in 2 hours if Shai said this
That dosent even make sense. Hes not in a position to say something like this so why would he say it? Hes in his prime and clearly the favorite for MVP
True. So he must have done it last year right? Or at least the year before that when Jokic won?
Whats the problem anyway? Redditors actually have a phobia of successful people speaking confidently.
Coz he’s pretentious. He talks in shade and in forced quotes trying to aura farm it’s cringey. Wemby wasn’t having none of that “I gotta see the questions and I have the answer” nonsense. Wemby says what’s on his mind.
And yet better than SGA’s nonchalant gimmick
Good for him I guess
Because SGA is very nonchalant (not necessarily good or bad, just an observation).
Wemby was asked a question and he answered with the same passion and confidence he always shows.
When Kobe was on top and said stuff, i was like i HATE this mf (w/ respect tho) and this is the exact energy wemby is giving imo. Don’t think you can really hate him so far even if you want with every fiber of your being to beat him down. People talk about the league being unwatchable and all that just need to see this man up close.
Iām just distracted by his hands in this clip. Heās an incredibly large person and his hands are disproportionately large to his body.
Naw
He ready for the smoke. I love it haha
Defense isnāt 50%, weāve gotta come to that realization. It arguably has rarely, if ever, been the case in basketball.
Wait this is cute lol
Itās like a freshman getting excited about running for student body or something, heās not yet jaded!!!
Random thought, could you imagine Wemby as spiderman. With his wingspan the capabilities would be insane…. Spideuxman, yeah I like that
Anyone else find this cringe?
He’ll win, in time. Pandering for MVP votes is lame, imo.
If you’re the MVP, you don’t need to say a word.
Reminds me of the Russ/Harden days.
I don’t remember Jokic saying shit the last handful of years, while I do remember Embiid talking some shit right before Jokic took over.
The only title that matters is winning the championship
āA vote for Wemby is a vote for ethical hoopingā
His argument should be that he is the best defensive player, the best two way player and he has a winning record against all the top teams in the league
Wemby is the most impactful player in the world
But SGA is the NBA medias darling, so i thinkhe will win it even though I don’t think he should win it.
When he says offense is not just points what could he be referring to. Perhaps his reduced minutes and his impact in that amount of time. To be fair adjusted for 36 minutes he is averaging 30. Would have been smarter to bring up his rebounds and the fact that he’s averaging a double double.
Offensive gravity opens up the game for others. Same reason why Steph is considered a great playmaker despite low assist numbers for a PG
Enjoy it now Spurs fans. The eventual flip gonna hit hard. (Not hating, just making a statement)
Nothing is going to hit hard, why would any of us care about the opinions of other fanbases? American sports are the only ones where this happens.