Victor Wembanyama Had Blunt Response to Anthony Davis's Critical DPOY Comments

Davis said there was a "narrative" being pushed to have Wembanyama take home the award.
Wembanyama and Davis are the frontrunners for the annual Defensive Player of the Year award
Wembanyama and Davis are the frontrunners for the annual Defensive Player of the Year award / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Halfway through the NBA season, international San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama and Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis appear to be 1A and 1B in the race for the Defensive Player of the Year award.

This is frustrating for Davis, the 12-year vet who has two top-three finishes in DPOY voting but has never won outright. He told Shams Charania earlier this week he feels there's a "narrative" currently working in Wembanyama’s favor.

"I feel the narrative is being pushed for Wemby to get it," Davis said on Tuesday. "Obviously he's averaging like four blocks or something crazy like that. But then it goes back to, are we talking about just blocks? I don't know how anything works anymore."

On Wednesday night, after an eventful game for the budding Spurs star, Wembanyama was asked about the comments. The 21-year-old phenom had a blunt response.

"I really don't care about individual accolades," Wembanyama said. "It's not something that I worry about. If I end up being Defensive Player of the Year it means I've helped my team on that side of the court. It means I've done my best and I've been rewarded for it, but at the end of the day the best reward is the wins."

A mature response from the young center.

Davis's frustration is surely understandable. He's been recognized as one of the best defenders in the league for a long time now and always has the stats to back up his DPOY candidacy. But when it gets down to voting there's always been something that prevents Davis from taking home the trophy— and then the cycle restarts.

But Wembanyama is averaging 3.9 blocks per game this year. His insane length, athleticism, and instincts change the geometry of the court and lead to players outright giving up in the paint more often than not. Davis is a deserving candidate but so is Wembanyama—narrative aside.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.