While reluctant to name San Antonio Spurs All-Star Victor Wembanyama the best player, ESPN's Stephen A Smith believes the reigning Defensive Player of the Year is very close. Smith declared Wembanyama the face of the NBA, dethroning Philadelphia 76ers All-Star LeBron James, and believes there are only two players above him.

Smith explained why Wembanyama is the third-best player in the NBA on ESPN's First Take.

“When you look at his ball-handling skills, his perimeter-shooting ability, his open-court ability, and his defensive prowess, this is one of the elite players in the NBA,” Smith said. “I think you can look at Victor Wembanyama — right now — and have him as a top-3 player in the National Basketball Association. I don't think there's any question about that. And we all know that the Spurs wouldn't have sniffed the playoffs, let alone a Finals, without him.”

Spurs' Victor Wembanyama finished second behind Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic on ESPN's top NBA players list, while Stephen A Smith is reluctant to place the phenom center above Oklahoma City Thunder's two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Ahead of the 2026-27 season, Spurs fans were named the NBA's most optimistic.

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Although the Spurs overachieved in reaching the Finals last season, Smith believes the shorthanded Thunder would have advanced from their best-of-7 series in the Western Conference Finals at full strength.

“Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell. If they don't get hurt for Oklahoma City, San Antonio is not in the Finals — Oklahoma City beats San Antonio,” Smith added. “I firmly believe that they might have won it all. I firmly believe that. But Victor Wembanyama still balled, and let's not forget, Chet Holmgren is no scrub. Chet Holmgren can play, but he looked like a petrified puppy going up against Victor Wembanyama. Victor Wembanyama walked into an arena, and Chet Holmgren looked scared for his damn life.”

For this reason alone, Smith says the Thunder should have packaged Holmgren with future first-round picks and sent them to the Milwaukee Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo over the summer.