Victor Wembanyama is already talking like a player with the league’s biggest individual prize in sight, but his eyes are set on something bigger than MVP hardware.
The San Antonio star has a clear target for the 2026-27 season. After finishing third in the 2025-26 MVP race, Wembanyama wants to climb to the top.
Still, he isn’t letting the award chase take over his thinking. His focus is on pushing the Spurs back toward glory.
At 7'5", Wembanyama brings the kind of size that can overwhelm a game on its own, and he pairs it with a rare two-way skill set. Over his first three seasons, he has already shown just how dominant he can be, including helping lead the Spurs to the NBA Finals in their first postseason run as a core group. With his fourth NBA season approaching, expectations around both him and San Antonio are as high as they’ve ever been.
There is a real MVP path in front of him, but the competition is brutal. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is chasing a third straight MVP, while Nikola Jokic remains at an elite level and firmly in the mix.
"It's a big goal this year, but coming off a Finals loss, it's not the first thing on my mind... It wasn't really a surprise. I think it was close; everyone at the top of that race could have made their own case, but Jokic and Shai each had more arguments than I did," Wembanyama said about the MVP award and his goals for the 2026-27 season.
The Spurs also enter the season with a new kind of pressure. They’ve become a team everyone will circle, and the spotlight will only get brighter. The MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards are there for Wembanyama to chase, but the bigger priority is helping San Antonio win and getting back to the Finals.
In Other News...
Wembanyamas Opening Night Struggles Have Spurs Fans Debating One Thing
Victor Wembanyamas start to the 2026-27 season has already sparked plenty of conversation in San Antonio, and his first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder only added fuel to it. Through the opening two quarters, he had eight points without making a field goal, while the Spurs were forced to chase the game as the Thunder controlled the flow and carried an 80-70 lead midway through the third quarter.
For Spurs fans, the bigger issue has been less about one rough stretch than what it says about how the offense is functioning around him. The frustration has been obvious, with concern building over both Wembanyamas performance and the teams approach when the game starts to get away from them, and this matchup is already shaping up as an early test of how quickly San Antonio can settle in around its franchise center. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Showed Fight Against OKC But One Debate Just Got Louder
The Spurs had the kind of season opener that can leave a team feeling both encouraged and annoyed. They hung around with Oklahoma City through a game that featured multiple lead changes, physical stretches and a handful of defensive plays worth circling, even if the Thunder ultimately pulled away for a 116-104 win. The return of Jalen Williams gave Oklahoma City another layer, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jared McCain helped steady the visitors when the game tightened.
For San Antonio, the bigger takeaway may be less about the final margin and more about how sharply the matchup sharpened the conversation around Victor Wembanyama. His back-and-forth on the defensive end with Chet Holmgren produced the kind of moments that fuel a rivalry debate, and the altercation involving DeAaron Fox only added to the edge. The Spurs showed they can match intensity, but they also left with one familiar question getting louder after a night when the other side handled the biggest moments better. [Read more 🡒]
Wembanyama Sounds Off After Spurs Let Thunder Set The Tone
The Spurs opened the season with a loss to the Thunder, and Victor Wembanyama did not hide his frustration afterward. San Antonio fell 116-104 in a game that quickly tilted toward Oklahoma City, even as Wembanyama still found ways to make his presence felt with 13 rebounds and six blocks. His shot never came around, though, as he managed just 12 points on 1-of-13 shooting in a start that left plenty of room for the Spurs to clean up.
What stood out most from Wembanyamas postgame assessment was how plainly he pointed to the issues that let the Thunder set the tone. He cited defensive miscommunication and poor closeouts, the kind of lapses that can snowball early in a season when rotations are still being sorted out. For San Antonio, the loss was more than one rough night from its franchise center - it was a reminder that the details have to sharpen up fast if the Spurs want to avoid letting opponents dictate the pace from the opening tip. [Read more 🡒]