Victor Wembanyama is preparing to “step on the gas” to become the youngest MVP of the NBA

Victor Vembanyama has a chance to become the NBA’s youngest MVP during his third season. While he feels that San Antonio Spurs“Success is his strongest argument, he knows he will have to raise his individual performance the rest of the way to separate himself.

“I know I’m in the MVP conversation. Of course, that’s one of my goals,” Wembanyama said after Thursday’s win over the Brooklyn Nets. “I think the main argument for that is the success of the team. That’s always the first thing. But I’m also aware that I have to push the gas a little bit in the last part of the season to win that award.”

Wembanyama’s two-way performance lifted San Antonio to the NBA’s third-best record (43-16), just 1.5 games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for first place. The Spurs are on an NBA-best 11-game winning streak in February.

Victor Wembanyama was the MVP while leading the Spurs’ ascent in the NBA standings

Vembjanjama averaged 23.7 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists on .501/.347/.815 shooting in 45 games. He and Nikola Jokic are the only NBA players who averaged such efficiency.

meanwhile, Vembanjama established himself as the best defender in the NBAanchoring a San Antonio unit that ranks third in the NBA. The 22-year-old leads the league with 3.8 steals (steals + blocks) per game, 0.8 ahead of the next player (Scottie Barnes: 3.0). He posted a defensive rating change of -10.6 (team points allowed per 100 possessions with a player on vs. off), the second-highest mark in the league behind only Rudy Gobert (-12.7), per CleaningTheGlass .

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said there was no doubt that Vembanjama had an impact at the MFA level.

“He’s as much of a driver for his team to win (as anybody),” Johnson said. “The single things that are identified as the best or the most valuable are offense, defense, boards and everything in between. He’s at the forefront of (each of) those. And there are other guys around the league who do that. I haven’t dived deep into it, but I definitely think he’s in the conversation. It would be logical for someone not to make that argument.

From meat currently has the fourth best The MVP odds are +2500, behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (-250), Nikola Jokic (+400) and Cade Cunningham (+850), according to FanDuel. The French superstar can only miss three more games to remain eligible for the award.