San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama earned All-NBA First Team honors on Sunday.
The unanimous Defensive Player of the Year was almost unanimous again in All-NBA First Team voting, but one voter kept him from earning that distinction.
That voter was Sirius XM Radio host Justin Termine.
This lone dissenting vote resulted in some serious backlash from fans around the NBA world. And on Monday, Termine responded to this criticism with a public statement justifying his decision.
“First let me say this. I voted for Wembanyama third for MVP and I actually think he’s a better player than [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander]. I think he’s the best player in the world right now,” Termine said. “But I thought [Nikola] Jokic had a better regular season at the same position.”
“But I absolutely love this kid. I think he has a chance to be the best player of all time, to be the best defensive player of all time,” Termine continued. “I’m a massive fan of Victor Wembanyama, but this year he was the second-best center, and I vote by position.”
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Despite Termine’s dissenting vote, Wembanyama still landed First Team honors alongside Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham.
Wembanyama and the Spurs are two wins away from the NBA Finals after Sunday night’s dominant Game 4 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, tying the Western Conference Finals at 2-2.
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Game 5 will tipoff at 8:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
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