Aggressively annoying Wemby noise finally came to an end thanks to MVP debate

When the season began, most of the conversations around the Spurs/OKC matchup were centered on how Victor Wembanyama would perform vs. Chet Holmgren. They never should have been. Fast forward to the end of the year, and those debates have rightfully shifted where they should have always been—between San Antonio's supernatural star and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

The two franchise studs may not play the same position, but they are the number one options on their respective squads. Everything is built around them, and those guys should only be compared to each other. Holmgren is sometimes the second-best player on his team but often the third, with Jalen Williams playing Robin to SGA's Batman.

There's never a night when Vic isn't the guy. The notion that there was ever a reasonable comparison between him and the lesser member of someone's Big 3 was laughable.

The Wemby/Chet comparison wasn't fair for several reasons

Interestingly enough, as annoying as the earlier forced comparison was for Spurs fans, it was even more cruel for Chet. He's actually a really good player and should be allowed to thrive in his role without being constantly compared to one of the greatest young stars we've ever seen.

If we're going to be honest about why San Antonio fans resent the Gonzaga product so much, it's because the media has pushed this "rivalry" on us. Even if they don't necessarily like each other, the conversation hasn't been presented in a way Spurs Nation would accept. It's been parsed as if they were on equal footing when that's never been the case during their time in the league.

The reason they've put so much attention on the two together goes back to Holmgren's injury during his real rookie season. He was actually drafted the year before Wemby, but OKC's 7'1" power forward went down in the preseason and didn't play a single minute, technically maintaining his status as a first-year guy when Vic was coming out.

The versatile skill set in his toolkit at his height made him an easy link for the media to connect with Wemby, but the fit was always poor. Now that everyone sees what Spurs fans have been screaming about since the inception of these talks, I hope people stop bagging on Chet for something he truly can't control.

Thankfully, Wembanyama's quick elevation to MVP-worthy status has lifted him right out of those conversations. Everything now is about the big dogs and how they'll perform down the stretch. That's how it should be.