Wembanyama Schools NBA Awards Math, Luka Doncic

Victor Wembanyama spent a postgame press conference doing math after a 40-point, 13-rebound night, arguing it would be "unfair" to drop the 65-game awards threshold midseason. His timing matters because Luka Dončić has filed an Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge to be awards eligible after finishing with 64 games; an independent arbitrator will hear the case next week. San Antonio has already locked the No. 2 seed with 62 wins, and Wembanyama has met the minutes requirement for honors. Merlin sees a player who is part magician and part analyst. Wembanyama even floated using 75 percent of games as a fair cutoff, and his recent dominance keeps MVP and All-NBA debates alive despite any games-played technicality. The arbitrator’s ruling could change how the league treats absences tied to personal events, and it will shape postseason award talk.