Latest / Bleacher Report / BRUNSON IS 'BEST PLAYER IN NBA' 🏆 LeSean McCoy Says Wemby Is NOT Winning MVP
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Shady Sixers-Knicks was the big game last night. We also
- 0:03Speaker 1: got a Western Conference Finals rematch for the late game
- 0:06Speaker 1: last night.
- 0:06Speaker 2: We did, we did.
- 0:07Speaker 1: Really fun one. The Thunder, they kind of gave that
- 0:09Speaker 1: bell to the Spurs. Bell to the boating! They kind
- 0:12Speaker 1: of gave that bell. They had this game, as they say,
- 0:14Speaker 1: circled on the calendar, and we saw it. As they
- 0:17Speaker 1: held Victor Weminyama to 12 points and only one field
- 0:21Speaker 1: goal last night. I think they took a lot of
- 0:24Speaker 1: heat this offseason of how they kind of handled the
- 0:27Speaker 1: Western Conference Finals last year. But you know what, Shady?
- 0:31Speaker 1: It's been one game, and I don't care about this
- 0:33Speaker 1: performance last night.
- 0:34Speaker 2: Don't overthink it.
- 0:35Speaker 1: Don't overthink it. My take is Victor Weminyama is the
- 0:38Speaker 1: MVP this year. I don't care that he was held.
- 0:42Speaker 1: They also, like the Thunder, they're building a roster to
- 0:44Speaker 1: try to build, you know, the Wemby stopper and everything
- 0:46Speaker 1: like that. I think, I don't even think it's much
- 0:49Speaker 1: of a debate. Victor Weminyama is winning the MVP this season.
- 0:53Speaker 2: Like, when you say MVP, it's like, The most valuable player?
- 0:57Speaker 1: The most valuable player in the National Basketball Association in 2026,
- 1:00Speaker 1: 2027 will be Victor Wendeman. And real quick, I.
- 1:03Speaker 3: Just want to make sure I'm right. So, you know,
- 1:05Speaker 3: you have an off season. You lost in the finals.
- 1:07Speaker 3: You can't wait to get there for game one.
- 1:09Speaker 2: You're working out. And you get to game one at home.
- 1:13Speaker 2: Long season. And you put up 12 points.
- 1:15Speaker 1: The Thunder were more motivated than him last night. And
- 1:18Speaker 1: that's going to be the case sometimes. It's a long season.
- 1:20Speaker 2: I guess.
- 1:21Speaker 1: But this season, he will be the best player in
- 1:24Speaker 1: the NBA.
- 1:24Speaker 2: Well, I'll say this. I think a good team, very
- 1:27Speaker 2: good young team, motivated. He's a hell of a player.
- 1:29Speaker 3: I think he'll be deepest player of the year again.
- 1:30Speaker 3: But I'm calling you on that cat.
- 1:32Speaker 2: That's cat, man. Yeah? MVP?
- 1:34Speaker 1: Who is better than him?
- 1:35Speaker 2: I have a couple of.
- 1:36Speaker 3: Guys for you that might be better than him or
- 1:39Speaker 3: should be the MVP.
- 1:41Speaker 1: You run the show now. You're not going to get me.
- 1:43Speaker 2: You play this game.
- 1:44Speaker 3: To win, and one guy that won, that beat him,
- 1:47Speaker 3: I'm going with the most clutch.
- 1:48Speaker 2: Player in the NBA ever. Jalen Brunson, MVP! I think
- 1:54Speaker 2: Brunson is.
- 1:54Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson is not winning MVP.
- 1:56Speaker 2: I think he is the best player in the NBA.
- 1:58Speaker 2: I truly believe that. Wow. Playing-wise.
- 2:01Speaker 3: And the name of the game is to go out
- 2:03Speaker 3: there and win championships, and that's what he's doing. He's
- 2:05Speaker 3: been carrying his team a long time. If you talk
- 2:07Speaker 3: about the biggest clutch player in the NBA.
- 2:09Speaker 2: I'm going with Brunson. So that, to me, is going
- 2:11Speaker 2: to ego an MVP.
- 2:12Speaker 1: Shady, they have an award for Clutch Player of the Year.
- 2:15Speaker 2: And he won that. He already won that.
- 2:17Speaker 1: He took care of that.
- 2:18Speaker 2: Now he's taking care of MVP. But listen, I like Winby.
- 2:20Speaker 2: I do.
- 2:21Speaker 1: I just don't think he's going to be able to
- 2:23Speaker 1: score enough to win an MVP.
- 2:25Speaker 2: Brunson? Oh, he does a score.
- 2:26Speaker 1: In the playoffs, Shady, I don't want anyone else controlling
- 2:31Speaker 1: my team than Jalen Brunson.
- 2:32Speaker 2: Right.
- 2:33Speaker 1: But this is a regular season award.
- 2:34Speaker 2: I got you. And one thing about Brunson is he's
- 2:36Speaker 2: stacking up his resume.
- 2:37Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 2:38Speaker 2: Okay. I think the next one on his list is
- 2:40Speaker 2: the MVP.
- 2:40Speaker 1: I don't think he cares about an MVP.
- 2:41Speaker 2: But that's one guy, though. I got more guys for you.
- 2:43Speaker 1: You got more. I'm not impressed.
- 2:45Speaker 2: We in New York, it's good weather and it's nice
- 2:47Speaker 2: and warm. But this guy's in the cold. I'm going
- 2:49Speaker 2: with my boy. Man! Woo!
- 2:54Speaker 1: Man, I want this to happen, but he has not
- 2:57Speaker 1: been consistent enough in the regular season for me to
- 2:59Speaker 1: agree with this.
- 2:59Speaker 2: I hear that. But you know what? MVP is all
- 3:02Speaker 2: about flash and stats.
- 3:04Speaker 3: And I don't know if I want a championship, but
- 3:05Speaker 3: when they brought Melo over there now, oh my God.
- 3:08Speaker 3: It's going to be a lot of action, a lot
- 3:09Speaker 3: of shots taken, a lot of scoring. And people love
- 3:12Speaker 3: to give MVPs the scores.
- 3:14Speaker 2: Yes.
- 3:15Speaker 1: And that's my biggest gripe against Brunson. This guy can score.
- 3:18Speaker 1: And he's also, I'm sure you've seen the ads, he's
- 3:20Speaker 1: starting that campaign. That's cool. Yeah.
- 3:22Speaker 2: He's got the personality to do it.
- 3:23Speaker 1: He's got the personality to do it.
- 3:24Speaker 2: If Ant-Man can win a championship, this would be his league.
- 3:26Speaker 2: He'd be the face of the league. He has the personality,
- 3:28Speaker 2: the scoring, the swagger. So, I think with this offense.
- 3:30Speaker 1: He's never finished top five in MVP.
- 3:32Speaker 2: That's cool. But now he's got a real point guard.
- 3:34Speaker 2: He does. And they're going to be running and gunning.
- 3:37Speaker 2: Running and gunning.
- 3:37Speaker 1: I think he's got to average 32 a game. for
- 3:41Speaker 1: him to have a legitimate chance to beat out Wemby.
- 3:45Speaker 2: You think Ant-Man can't do that? Because he can score.
- 3:47Speaker 2: He can shoot threes. I just want to see it, man.
- 3:49Speaker 1: I just want to see it. I'm not there. I'm
- 3:51Speaker 1: rooting for this.
- 3:52Speaker 2: Now, sometimes this MVP is like stats, though, right? Yeah. Stats. Okay.
- 3:56Speaker 2: I'm going to Detroit to get mine. Cade Cunningham.
- 3:59Speaker 1: Cade MVP over Wemby.
- 4:02Speaker 2: Yes. Why not?
- 4:04Speaker 1: He's going to have to average a triple-double.
- 4:06Speaker 2: What are you talking about?
- 4:07Speaker 3: Last year, was he first team all-NBA last year?
- 4:09Speaker 2: He was.
- 4:10Speaker 3: I think so. So you keep adding to that. Now,
- 4:13Speaker 3: last year didn't go well in the playoffs. You go
- 4:15Speaker 3: back with something to fight for.
- 4:18Speaker 2: You get what I'm saying? I think he's a little
- 4:19Speaker 2: more motivated now. And he can score. He can get assists.
- 4:22Speaker 2: He can get rebounds. He can do it all. He can.
- 4:25Speaker 1: Again, scoring. At 22 a game, I just like not.
- 4:29Speaker 2: 22 last year. You don't know what he's doing this year.
- 4:31Speaker 2: And he finished fifth. Last year, MVP voting.
- 4:35Speaker 1: He did. He has that top five when he does.
- 4:37Speaker 2: Moving on up.
- 4:39Speaker 1: He's going to have to get them back to a
- 4:42Speaker 1: one seed, though. for him.
- 4:43Speaker 3: It's not going to happen in the East. We just
- 4:45Speaker 3: talked about how good the East is. And that's why
- 4:47Speaker 3: we played a game. Oh, so you want something like Wimby.
- 4:50Speaker 2: Is that what you want? Is that what you need? Maybe. Okay,
- 4:53Speaker 2: let's go to Detroit then. I mean, not Detroit. Let's
- 4:54Speaker 2: go to Denver. Let's go to Denver.
- 4:56Speaker 1: Yeah, this is the one I'm worried about.
- 4:57Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 4:58Speaker 1: And my only argument against this guy?
- 5:00Speaker 2: What?
- 5:01Speaker 1: Voter fatigue.
- 5:02Speaker 2: Oh, well, when you're this good, you just keep voting
- 5:04Speaker 2: for him.
- 5:04Speaker 1: He's got three already. Jokic is the truth.
- 5:07Speaker 2: And he's amazing.
- 5:08Speaker 1: He's amazing.
- 5:08Speaker 2: I know one thing. I know Wimby hates to see
- 5:10Speaker 2: him I know that.
- 5:12Speaker 3: You talk about MVPs, he's going to fill up the
- 5:14Speaker 3: stat sheet, assist, rebounds, and scoring. So if you ask
- 5:18Speaker 3: for a real MVP, the most valuable player, he's probably
- 5:22Speaker 3: going to be top two to get it anyway.
- 5:25Speaker 2: Favorites, the odd favorites.
- 5:26Speaker 1: Can I say something? A little worried about the Stanford
- 5:28Speaker 1: team this year. A little worried about what it looks like.
- 5:32Speaker 1: I trust Jokic, but again, he's won it three times.
- 5:36Speaker 2: We're ready for some.
- 5:38Speaker 1: MVP's always about... We need fresh blood. We need the
- 5:41Speaker 1: next face. And it's Wemby's time and Yoko Chad is
- 5:43Speaker 1: time and he won a championship.
- 5:44Speaker 2: You're a smart guy.
- 5:45Speaker 3: When's the last time you think he's finished outside the
- 5:48Speaker 3: top three in MVP voting?
- 5:50Speaker 2: Seriously.
- 5:50Speaker 1: It's been a long time.
- 5:51Speaker 2: 2019!
- 5:52Speaker 1: I was going to say, it's literally this decade.
- 5:54Speaker 3: So he wakes up and stretches and says, you know,
- 5:56Speaker 3: I'll be in the MVP race.
- 5:57Speaker 1: I'm going with him.
- 5:58Speaker 2: He's in the race.
- 5:59Speaker 1: I just don't think he's going to win it.
- 6:00Speaker 2: Okay, I mean, it's tough, man.
- 6:02Speaker 3: Can you give me like a guarantee guy that's won
- 6:05Speaker 3: an MVP already?
- 6:06Speaker 1: There's one name you haven't said yet that I'm a
- 6:09Speaker 1: little worried about. Yeah.
- 6:11Speaker 2: Can he get it?
- 6:12Speaker 1: This is the one.
- 6:12Speaker 3: Because last night he showed, out of all these stars
- 6:16Speaker 3: in this court, I'm the best star, and he showed it.
- 6:19Speaker 1: With Shea, and this is the one name where... I
- 6:24Speaker 1: think whoever wins this conference, whoever is the one seed.
- 6:27Speaker 1: And I also think Shea is very motivated. He's always motivated.
- 6:31Speaker 2: He's a little motivated last night.
- 6:31Speaker 1: But he is the most disrespected superstar we've had in
- 6:34Speaker 1: the NBA in a long time. He's the back-to-back MVP winner.
- 6:38Speaker 1: He has won an NBA Finals. And it almost feels
- 6:41Speaker 1: like if he gets that third in a row, he's
- 6:43Speaker 1: in the rarest of airs in the league. And he
- 6:46Speaker 1: can finally say, it's like, you guys... You want to
- 6:48Speaker 1: crown this Wemby guy. You want to keep giving it
- 6:51Speaker 1: to Jokic. I am the best player in this league.
- 6:54Speaker 2: So we agree.
- 6:55Speaker 1: This is the one where I still am taking Wemby.
- 6:58Speaker 1: I'm just infatuated with him and think it's his time.
- 7:01Speaker 1: But if there was one player, if Shea pulls this off,
- 7:05Speaker 1: I will shut up.
- 7:06Speaker 2: For the rest of the time. Well, God dang it.
- 7:07Speaker 2: We finally agree.
- 7:09Speaker 3: I mean, I think me and you both just made
- 7:11Speaker 3: Canada happy because SGA is the biggest thing other than
- 7:14Speaker 3: Drake over there, and he's holding it down here in America.
- 7:16Speaker 3: So give that boy his credit. And I do think
- 7:18Speaker 3: that they'll be back to the finals.
- 7:20Speaker 2: I do believe that.
- 7:21Speaker 1: I want to be clear. This is the one guy
- 7:24Speaker 1: I'm scared of with Shea. Wemby is going to win
- 7:27Speaker 1: the MVP this year. They're going to be the number one.
- 7:29Speaker 1: He is the best defensive player we have seen since
- 7:34Speaker 1: David Robinson. He is that good defensively where he can
- 7:38Speaker 1: still average 25, but he's going to get 10-plus boards.
- 7:43Speaker 1: He's going to average five blocks a game. He can
- 7:45Speaker 1: still shoot. He's got to improve his three-point shooting if
- 7:47Speaker 1: he does that. He is going to win the most
- 7:50Speaker 1: valuable player this year.
- 7:50Speaker 3: He had 12 points last night. Last one before we
- 7:52Speaker 3: get out of here with this topic, though. Can we
- 7:54Speaker 3: go to L.A.? I mean, the stars are brighter in L.A.
- 7:56Speaker 3: I mean, is Luka still here? Did he get traded
- 7:59Speaker 3: or something?
- 8:00Speaker 2: LeBron left. He didn't leave. And the team is formed
- 8:03Speaker 2: around him.
- 8:05Speaker 3: I want to see this year the Luka that we love, right?
- 8:08Speaker 3: The Luka that took that Mavericks team to the finals.
- 8:11Speaker 3: And I think we'll get that.
- 8:12Speaker 2: It's his show. There's nobody else in the picture. He's
- 8:14Speaker 2: going to score tons of points. He has it big now.
- 8:17Speaker 2: I think Luke's going to average about 35 points this year.
- 8:19Speaker 1: He's going to put up insane numbers. I just don't
- 8:21Speaker 1: like this Lakers team. I just don't think that they're
- 8:23Speaker 1: a serious threat to a title, serious threat to be
- 8:26Speaker 1: the one seed in the West. I just, I'm just.
- 8:29Speaker 2: Why is that?
- 8:29Speaker 3: They need more brothers on the team? Brothers on the
- 8:31Speaker 3: starting lineup?
- 8:32Speaker 2: What do you think?
- 8:32Speaker 1: That could be part of it.
- 8:33Speaker 2: Come on now.
- 8:33Speaker 1: That could be part of it. I just, I'm not
- 8:35Speaker 1: moved by this. And Luke is a great player. He's
- 8:38Speaker 1: going to put up insane numbers. And yes, he did
- 8:40Speaker 1: drag a kind of similar roster where there wasn't a
- 8:43Speaker 1: lot of star power the last time around. Just not
- 8:45Speaker 1: as big of a Luka guy. Take Wemby over Luka
- 8:48Speaker 1: every day of the week.
- 8:49Speaker 2: You know, J.J.
- 8:50Speaker 3: Gregg, for me, that's why I wanted to be the MVP.
- 8:53Speaker 3: Just because he's an offensive-minded guy, right? He pushes his players,
- 8:56Speaker 3: and he's going to find ways for him to score.
- 8:58Speaker 3: Find ways to get him going. So, I think when
- 9:01Speaker 3: you're already a great player, and then your coach wants
- 9:03Speaker 3: to go through you for everything, Luka's going to fill
- 9:06Speaker 3: up the stat sheets. You're talking about 35 points. 10 assists.
- 9:09Speaker 3: He's going to get all that double-double crazy this year.
- 9:12Speaker 1: Just crazy numbers.
- 9:12Speaker 2: And you're in L.A. The market's big.
- 9:16Speaker 1: So if you're picking one to go up against me
- 9:20Speaker 1: in the MVP debate, I get Wemby, you get... SGA.
- 9:25Speaker 2: Okay.
- 9:26Speaker 1: I think that's a great battle. I think that's going
- 9:27Speaker 1: to be the MVP.
- 9:28Speaker 2: My three is SGA, Luka... Jokic is easy. That's an
- 9:33Speaker 2: easy one. I don't want to go Jokic.
- 9:35Speaker 1: Just say you want to.
- 9:35Speaker 2: Ant-Man.
- 9:36Speaker 1: Ant-Man.
- 9:38Speaker 2: It's the eye test for me, though. And guess what?
- 9:40Speaker 1: I don't care about one bad game. I'm taking Wemby overall.
- 9:43Speaker 2: Well, maybe he gets 13 points in this game.