MVP is the NBA’s Worst Kept Secret
An MVP award spoiled in multiple ways
As you probably know, Monday night’s Spurs-Thunder game turned into a surreal dominance statement by Victor Wembanyama. I can’t recall another series Game 1 where “best player in the world” quickly went from “hotly contested” to “consensus agreement.” It happened in a span of mere minutes, too. Wemby was looking gassed late in the fourth quarter only to somehow, some way, reach escape velocity from fatigue and all other constraints.
Speaking of consensus, or near consensus landslide, the MVP award handed out to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander helped dramatically stage that night’s events. Credit to Wembanyama for confirming that he took the pregame proceeding personally. For whatever reason, the modern NBA player tends to be withholding when fans ask for an intuitive demonstration of passion. In contrast to his contemporaries, Wemby tells people that he’s here to save the All-Star game.
It’s a game we love. It’s a game [I] personally cherish. Being competitive is the least I can do.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, whose game I actually enjoy quite a bit, which feels almost like a hipster take right now, told fans that players might need more money to play hard in the ASG. He was wearing a fur coat.
I’m not trying to crush SGA. Admittedly, I’m rooting for the Thunder in this series. I’m mostly noting that Wembanyama has a gift for giving the people what they want in an era where the other stars treat fans like interlopers unworthy of consideration.
In the vein of giving fans what they want, I’m interested in how the pomp and circumstance of that aforementioned MVP announcement went. Somehow the early Sunday “leak” of the announcement turned into an Amazon Prime studio show attack on ESPN NBA lead reporter Shams Charania.