Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers made a big decision to help ice a critical win over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. The 7-foot-3

However, behind Wembanyama, the Spurs don't really have a high-level second option. Devin Vassell once flashed that potential, but after his lackluster start to the season, it's clear that his ceiling is as a third or fourth option on a good team.

The latter has turned around in a major way. Since Dec. 1, Wembanyama is making 37% of his 3s on over nine attempts per game. Put that together with his 77% finishing rate at the rim, which Cleaning the Glass ranks in the 86th percentile among all bigs, and Wembanyama already ranks as one of the most dominant inside-out scorers in the league.

The Bucks had a plan to make the second-year Spurs phenom uncomfortable. Antetokounmpo and his teammates executed that plan to perfection.

With 10:22 remaining in the first quarter, Wembanyama, with the ball near the top of the key, pump-faked a shot and got Bucks guard Andre Jackson Jr. to bite. Then, as if he was in a casual morning shootaround, Wembanyama took one dribble to his left and drilled a 28-foot, one-legged three-pointer as the crowd at the Fiserv Forum ooed and ahhed.

According to the NBA's most recent MVP ladder, Wembanyama is fourth in the running to win the Michael Jordan Trophy, behind only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. His two dominant performances against Jokic and the Denver Nuggets are key reasons why he jumped ahead from the fifth spot, passing Jayson Tatum.

Milwaukee Bucks power forward Bobby Portis thinks that a recent foe, not his current two-time MVP teammate, is a contender to become the best defender in the history of the NBA. The 6-foot-10 Arkansas product,

Giannis Antetokounmpo fell just short of back-to-back triple-doubles, but the Bucks remain red-hot from long range in an easy victory over the Spurs.

If Wembanyama took another jump between now and the next ratings update, it would mroe than likely place him at least tied for a top five spot in the game's rankings. Now, onto th

The precise moment when the Kia Race to the MVP got real was last Sunday when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander swatted away a layup attempt by Jayson Tatum, another Kia MVP contender, in the tense fourth-quarter moments of Oklahoma City vs. Boston.

NBA 2K25's January player ratings update highlights Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, and Evan Mobley with standout boosts.