NBA fans shocked by Wembanyama's place on MVP ladder amid 3-game losing streak

"Didn't he just post 10 points against Giannis?" "Aren't they on a 3-game losing streak?" "Okay, now they're overrating him." These are the comments dropped by fans on social media after the NBA's recent release of the updated Kia MVP Ladder featuring Victor Wembanyama at the fourth spot, moving up one from last week.

His spot at five was challenged by many last week when he first stepped into the top five. People don't understand why a player whose team is hanging around .500 has an MVP candidate at all. It's not the norm in the league, and the only person in recent memory to win the award with an elite team is Russell Westbrook. But it's obvious what's happening; the experts are getting smarter.

Wembanyama is not being penalized for the play around him

Wembanyama was robbed of the Defensive Player of the Year award last season, and the reasoning was politically biased. The league has never awarded a rookie such a prestigious honor, so voters had a hard time breaking that precedent for Wemby despite numbers not seen since David Robinson and Dikembe Mutombo. It was wrong then, and it still feels off when I think about it.

What Wemby's rise in the rankings tells me is that the experts watched the games over the last week and understood why the Spurs are ahead of schedule while also seeing what's holding them back. The Bucks game was a nasty debacle to put on display with the country watching the matchup on ESPN, but there is nuance to what took place in the box score.

Wemby was being corralled better than most teams have been able to. Milwaukee's size gives them the ability to challenge the Alien in ways different than most. However, he didn't force it when they sent extra bodies at him.

He tried to rely on his teammates by passing the ball. It's exactly what he should do in those situations. Unfortunately, the surrounding cast couldn't make the Bucks pay a cent. So, they never needed to adjust their strategy. Had the role players around Wembanyama made shots, it would have forced the opposition to guard them honestly, opening up the floor for Wemby to do his thing.

It's a team sport, but MVP is an individual accolade. Everyone is taking notice of what the towering Frenchman has to work with, and lately, the surrounding cast has faltered. He has not. It would have likely been a different story if he had taken 20 shots to score those 10 points. But he chose to play patiently, trusting his team to help him. That's MVP-caliber maturity and understanding of the game.

If you watch those games lost over the last week, you should have been thinking, "Wembanyama is pretty amazing, and if he gets a little more from his supporting cast, the Spurs would have won at least two of those games." If that's not what you were thinking, and instead chose to blame Wemby for not magically inducing his team to make shots, you need to be studied.

It's refreshing for Spurs fans to see the NBA, which has shunned the Silver and Black for much of the Tim Duncan era, is not doing the same for Victor. He's been playing unbelievable basketball, and San Antonio isn't close to a playoff chase without him.