To the Victor go the spoils.
The Saga of Cale Makar over the past four or five days has already turned the kids on the Grading The Week staff into a bit of an emotional wreck going into the holiday weekend. But the peeks we’ve taken over to the NBA’s Western Conference Finals have only made our collective ulcers worse.
Because the better Spurs center Victor Wembanyama looks on the NBA’s biggest stage, against the Oklahoma City Thunder (and that 41-point, 24-rebound Game 1 was something else), the more worried we get that Wemby is about to officially pass the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic as the NBA cognoscenti’s new “center of choice.”
And that Wemby is going to become the voters’ new sexy second pick to slot behind back-to-back MVP winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC’s Duke of Dives and Lord of Leans.
Joker and NBA MVP voters — C
It’s not that the Joker has done anything to slide down the MVP ladder, other than get — well, older. Jokic, who finished second to SGA in the voting for a second straight year, is arguably coming off the best statistical season of a Hall-of-Fame career. The Big Honey is the first player to ever lead the league in both rebounds and assists in the same season. He’s only the second dude to average a triple-double over multiple campaigns — and didn’t take home MVP honors either time.
He just joined two NBA — and Boston Celtics — legends as one of only three players to ever finish among the top two in MVP voting for six straight seasons, matching Larry Bird (1981-86) and Bill Russell (1958-63).
That said, you wonder if getting to seven straight top-two finishes is going to be tougher than ever, given the degree to which the 22-year-old Wemby, who finished third in ’25-26 MVP voting, keeps elevating his game.
People like the kid. And they should. He’s amazing. But let’s also be real for a second. Coastal NBA media have been looking for someone to supplant Jokic, another big man who could shove him down the honors depth chart, for years. It’s the same reason so many pundits tripled down on The Joel Embiid Train for years — at least until Embiid’s body and the league’s game-participation rules made sure that ship had sailed.
Denver isn’t big enough. Jokic doesn’t do enough commercials. Yada after yada after yada. While the Nuggets were winning titles, or at least pushing the Thunder, the best argument for Jokic’s league-wide credentials was the scoreboards of April, May, and June. Now the Joker’s haters and doubters have to say just one word and drop the mic: Minnesota.
No. 50 continues to be on the right side of history, at least. And there’s time. The Joker turns 32 on February 19. Karl Malone was two weeks away from his 36th birthday when he won the ’98-99 MVP award. Michael Jordan was 232 days away from his 36th when he nabbed ’98 MVP honors. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had just turned 33 in ’80 when he secured the sixth, and last, MVP of his career. Jordan and Malone won multiple MVPs after the age of 31. It’s a small club, granted. But hasn’t Jokic already shown us he knows how to break down some of the rarest front doors in NBA history?
Reports of the Joker’s MVP death have been greatly exaggerated. Just get ready for more of them. At least until the Nuggets’ playoff success forces the pundits, grumbling and harrumphing at every turn, to admit that they were wrong.
CSU dominates Mountain West track — A
For the second straight year, Brian Bedard’s FoCo beast swept the Mountain West’s outdoor and indoor track titles. And they did it with room to spare, notching 200 points at the outdoor conference championships. Bedard set the pace on the awards front, too, sweeping Mountain West outdoor and Indoor Coach of the Year honors.
CU lacrosse raises Buffs bar — A
Speaking of dominance, Team GTW saw you, Buffs lacrosse. CU’s squad just wrapped up a campaign that saw them notch a school record for wins in a season (16) and win their first-ever Big 12 tournament. A belated GTW tip of the cap to the Buffs, who marched all the way to the Elite Eight before falling in double OT at Northwestern, one of the blue-blood programs in the sport.
