"Smelling Like Doo-Doo": Victor Wembanyama, Luka Doncic get unsavory NBA MVP jabs from Jason Williams originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The NBA MVP race has been dominated largely by non-American players in the past decade. San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic have been named the finalists for the award. Not to mention, Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic and Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo were also in the mix in the past years. Fans love the globalization of the league but former champion Jason Williams seems to not like the frontrunners.
Understandably, Jason Williams comes from a different era of basketball but his statements about the NBA MVP race were a bit too much. He outlined that they should just share the NBA MVP award and that they were no better than some American-born players in the league, via Hoopin N' Hollerin.
"The three guys who are in the finals? Yeah, they are all deserving. What's the chances? Why don't they go ahead and share it? Just, all three share the motherf*****. Let five Europeans share it. Yep, let them share it. F*** out of here with that bulls***. Ain't none of them players better than Kevin Durant. You put them out there one-on-one, I got KD against them all. I got LeBron against them all. Another American, Ant Edwards against them all," Williams said.
He did not specify names but it is clear that he is referring to Spurs' Victor Wembanyama, Nuggets' Nikola Jokic, Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lakers' Luka Doncic, and possibly Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo too. All of which have either won the NBA MVP award already or are in the running to notch it.
Look, the league will only go more worldwide from here on out. When Jason Williams was drafted in the league back in 1998, there were only 29 international players which amounted to 7.8% of the total active player population at the time. Heck, Williams knew of this globalization too because his name was called after Nigerian first overall pick Michael Olowakandi and before ninth overall pick Dirk Nowitzki.
Regardless of what the Sacramento Kings legend and member of the 2006 Miami Heat has to say, players like Jokic, Wembanyama, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Doncic will continue to shape the league. They are the stat leaders on both ends of the floor. Most of them are also heavily-favored to win the Larry O'Brien trophy and have already done so in the past decade.
The NBA MVP is no longer just an American award. The league and world know this after Hakeem Olajuwon notched the honor five years before Williams even entered the association.