Wembanyama's spot on NBA MVP Ladder builds case for league's most dominant force

The NBA's MVP Ladder was released today, and Victor Wembanyama came in at number five for the second consecutive week. Ahead of him, in order from first to fourth, are Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jaylen Brown, and Luka Doncic. That's impressive company for the 7'5" paint wrecker, but what's even more stunning is being there, despite playing so few minutes lately.

As the man who penned the article, Shaun Powell, points out, the Alien is averaging 22 and 10 in 23 minutes per game since December (he actually wrote "21 minutes per game since November," but that's not right). That's a whole lot of production jam-packed into a short amount of time, and it doesn't account for his game-wrecking defensive presence.

It's hard not to believe that the only thing holding Vic back from snatching this award this season is his number of missed games and limited action.

Wemby would almost certainly win MVP this season with enough games

In the first five games of the season, Victor averaged 30 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks per game, but he played 34 minutes a night. Now, do I think he would have maintained those numbers from October to April? I'm not ruling it out, but it's probably unlikely. However, he could still be somewhere around 27, 14, and 4 with more consistent time on the floor.

If he put up those numbers in his third season, while the Spurs simultaneously had one of the best seasons in franchise history, which they are currently in the midst of having, he would be a top 2-3 favorite to win the award right now. San Antonio is on pace for a 58-24 record. They've only had 11 seasons with a better record and have matched that total four times before.

This has been a top-performing offense with a stifling defense when Wemby is in the lineup for the majority of the season. You can directly credit him for the Silver and Black's accelerated contender status.

The players on this team are good, but nobody would take them seriously without a real superstar on the team. That's what Vic provides, and he does it with the flair and disdain for his opponents you want to see from behemoths like him.

Nobody was expecting this season from Mitch Johnson's bunch, yet here we are. Plenty of people deserve credit for this uprising, but I'll settle for an MVP for Wemby, Coach of the Year for Mitch, and Sixth Man of the Year for Keldon Johnson. That's not too much to ask for.