Draymond Green, bless his unfiltered heart, gave us a classic Draymond moment this week. He "hated" Victor Wembanyama's self-promotion for MVP, then immediately "absolutely loved" it. That's peak Green. But buried in that verbal whiplash was a nugget of truth about Wemby's burgeoning career: if you have to *say* defense is important, you're already missing the point. The numbers should scream it.
Wembanyama, for all his otherworldly talent, is still a rookie. A rookie who, by the way, just wrapped up his first NBA season averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and a league-leading 3.6 blocks per game. Those are historic lines, the kind that make you double-check the box score. He finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, a monumental achievement for a 20-year-old. He logged 10 games with at least five blocks, including a monster 10-block triple-double against Toronto in February. The kid is a defensive phenom, a generational eraser at the rim.
But here's the thing: truly elite defenders don't need to campaign for their defensive prowess. It's woven into the fabric of their team's identity. Look at Rudy Gobert, a four-time DPOY. You rarely hear him pontificating on the importance of protecting the paint; you just see the way opponents alter shots or avoid driving entirely when he's lurking. Or go back to Ben Wallace, a guy who won four DPOYs with the Pistons. His defense was so suffocating, so impactful, it spoke volumes without a single word from him. Those Pistons teams won a title in 2004 largely on the back of their defensive tenacity, holding the Lakers to 68 points in Game 3 of the Finals.
Wemby’s defensive impact is already undeniable. The Spurs, despite their 22-60 record, showed flashes of defensive potential with him anchoring the backline. Their defensive rating improved from 118.8 in January to 113.8 in March, a direct correlation to Wembanyama's increased comfort and influence. He's already shown he can anchor a defense, even if the pieces around him aren't quite there yet. My hot take? He's a better defender *right now* than Anthony Davis was in his rookie year, and Davis still ended up with eight All-Defensive selections.
Green's point, I think, wasn't to diminish Wemby's defense. It was about the hierarchy of a true MVP. MVPs are often the best player on one of the league's best teams, and their defensive impact is a given, an assumed baseline. Nikola Jokic doesn't need to talk about his passing; it’s obvious every time he touches the ball. Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn't need to campaign for his rim protection; opponents feel it. Wembanyama is already putting up numbers that scream MVP potential, but the truly great ones let their play do the talking, especially on the defensive end.
He's got the talent. He's got the drive. He's got the historic rookie season under his belt. Now, he just needs to let his game, particularly his game on the defensive end, become so overwhelmingly dominant that no one even questions its importance. It'll be a given. And when that happens, the MVP trophies will follow. I predict Wembanyama will win his first DPOY award by the end of the 2025-26 season.