The Oklahoma City Thunder got major news on Sunday morning, albeit slightly earlier than they expected. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had won his second-straight MVP award, and deservedly so.
Across 68 games this season, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 6.6 assists while shooting 38.6% from beyond the arc. The Thunder had a 122.9 offensive rating with him on the court and a 113.1 rating with him off, per Databallr. He was the best player on the best team in the NBA, and there was wasn't a lot of room to argue otherwise.
Victor Wembanyama, however, certainly thought there was. He pleaded his case for the award before the media multiple times near the end of the regular season.
Now, the NBA has waited to announce the MVP award until just one day before Oklahoma City and the San Antonio Spurs will begin their Western Conference Finals matchup. For the Thunder, it likely means very little.
For Wembanyama and the Spurs, though, it provides an extra dose of motivation that could make this series somehow even more monumental than it already is.
Spurs and Wembanyama now have an even bigger chip on their shoulder heading into the WCF
Of course, Wembanyama had a case for MVP. He's a miraculous and disruptive defensive force, and he has the offense to complement that fact. He averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in addition to his league-leading 3.1 blocks this season. If it was a defensive award, he would have taken it home easily. Thankfully, that's what Defensive Player of the Year is for.
Even without that storyline at play, this series is already shaping up to be the most colossal of this year's playoffs. The Spurs and Thunder were the two best teams in the West this year. Both posted top-three defenses and top-10 offenses. Both have stars of epic proportions, intriguing young pieces, and solid depth to carry them through a seven-game series.
Even the underdog storyline applies to both sides to a degree. Although Oklahoma City was virtually unbeatable for large stretches of the regular season, they posted a 1-4 record against San Antonio.
In short, this matchup already has plenty of intrigue.
But Wembanyama is someone who wears his emotions on his sleeve, and it's likely that he'll be looking, in some way, to prove his case for why he deserved the MVP over Gilgeous-Alexander. If that brings another level of performance and aggression out of him, so be it.
It only creates a bigger beast to conquer for the Thunder. They've done it before, and there's no reason to believe they can't do it again.
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