Wembanyama Just Dropped 52. Canada's Two-Time MVP Has a Real Rival Now

Canada has the reigning two-time NBA MVP. On Wednesday night in San Antonio, a sick 22-year-old made a loud case that the trophy is about to change hands anyway.

Victor Wembanyama finished with 52 points, 24 rebounds and eight blocks as the Spurs edged the Dallas Mavericks 112-111, all career highs in points and rebounds, according to ESPN. The home crowd chanted "MVP." He said afterward that he had been sick. Meanwhile in Oklahoma City, Toronto-born Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is chasing something only a handful of players have ever done. For Canadian basketball fans, that collision is the story worth watching.

How historic was Wembanyama's night, really?

ESPN's Michael C. Wright laid out the record book. Wembanyama made all 15 of his first-half free throws, tying James Harden's 2019 mark for the most without a miss in a first half since play-by-play tracking began in 1997-98. His eight blocks were the most in any 50-point game since blocks became an official stat in 1973-74. He also became the first player with at least 50 points and 20 rebounds in a one-point win since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964.

Teammate Dylan Harper went straight to the obvious comparison. "He's basically Wilt," Harper told reporters, as quoted by The Guardian. The game was tight to the end. Dallas erased a 19-point hole, and Wembanyama's free throw with 24.2 seconds left was the difference.

The illness detail matters. "I haven't been feeling great lately. I'm sick," he said. "I felt like I got my legs back." That reads less like an excuse and more like a warning.

Where does Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stand right now?

On top, officially. Gilgeous-Alexander won MVP in 2024-25 and again in 2025-26, per Basketball-Reference, and he was Finals MVP when the Thunder won the 2025 title. Last season's vote was not close at the top. He collected 83 first-place votes, with Nikola Jokić second and Wembanyama third with five first-place votes, according to the site's 2026 awards tally.

This season he is still scoring at an elite clip, averaging 30.1 points through eight games, though his field goal percentage has dipped to .447 from .553 a year ago, per his Basketball-Reference page. The bigger problem is roster health. Jalen Williams fractured his fibula and dislocated his left ankle in October and is likely to miss the rest of the season, The Guardian reported. Gilgeous-Alexander was in tears after the game. "We've just got to hold the fort down until he comes back," he said.

NBA.com's Shaun Powell, asked in his preseason MVP watchlist whether Gilgeous-Alexander could win three straight, answered: "Absolutely."

Is this already a rivalry?

It has the bones of one. Last spring the Spurs won 62 games and eliminated the defending champion Thunder on the road in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, according to CBS Sports. Wembanyama was also the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year.

The MVP race had its own subplot. In late March, Powell's ladder had Wembanyama surging past Gilgeous-Alexander for No. 1. Voters went the other way in the end. So Gilgeous-Alexander holds the trophy, and Wembanyama holds the playoff win. That split is exactly how great rivalries start.

Now look at the early numbers. Wembanyama is averaging 29.0 points, 12.4 rebounds and 4.5 blocks through eight games, per Basketball-Reference. CBS Sports notes he is taking 42% of his shots from within three feet, up from 33% last year, which means more dunks and more trips to the line. Powell's verdict on him in October was blunt: "It appears to be not a matter of if Wemby will win an MVP, but when."

Why should Canadian fans care this much?

Because the best player in the world is, for now, one of ours. Sportsnet describes him as born in Toronto and raised in Hamilton, and he won the Northern Star Award as Canada's athlete of the year back in 2023, before either MVP. A third straight MVP would put a Canadian in company that, according to Basketball-Reference's list of winners, includes only Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird.

It would also push past the last great Canadian MVP run. Steve Nash won back-to-back awards in 2004-05 and 2005-06 and never got a third. Gilgeous-Alexander will have to go through a 7-foot-5 Frenchman who just put up a stat line nobody has seen since the 1960s. If he holds him off, the argument is settled. If he does not, Canadian fans still get something rare, a homegrown star at the center of the league's defining matchup for the next decade.

The Raptors are part of the backdrop, too. The franchise brought back Kawhi Leonard, the man who delivered its only title, at age 35, a return The Guardian called "complicated." That is nostalgia. Gilgeous-Alexander versus Wembanyama is what comes next.

What should you watch for over the next month?

Three things. First, whether Gilgeous-Alexander's efficiency climbs back toward last year's level now that he is carrying more of the load without Williams. Second, Wembanyama's health. Playing through illness and still dropping 52 is impressive, and a full-strength version is a scary thought for the rest of the West. Third, head-to-head games between the Spurs and Thunder, which now carry real MVP weight.

Award races are long, and a November box score has never won anyone a trophy. Still, Wednesday felt like the opening argument in a case that will run for years. Canada has a horse in it, and right now that horse is the champion.