Wembanyama's 52 and 24 just retired the too-early excuse

Stop telling me it's too early for Victor Wembanyama's MVP case. He just put 52 points, 24 rebounds and eight blocks on the Mavericks, and the Spurs won 112-111 for their sixth straight.

The Spurs say he's the first player with at least 50 points, 20 rebounds and eight blocks in a game since the NBA started tracking blocks in 1973-74. ESPN's recap has the same line, plus the half that should end the November hedge: 29 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks before intermission, the first 25-10-5 half in the play-by-play era that began in 1996-97. He went 16 of 28 from the field and 19 of 23 at the line. Kyrie Irving missed a contested 15-footer with three seconds left. That's not a quiet statement game. That's a night the league's record book had to open a new drawer.

I know what the grown-ups say in November. Small sample. Schedule. The race starts in January. I've written that column myself on guys who scored 40 in a Christmas blowout and vanished by February. Fair enough as a habit. It doesn't fit this tape. San Antonio was plus-23 with him on the floor and minus-22 without him, per the box. Dallas ran off 12-1 the moment he sat three minutes into the second quarter. Later in that quarter he blocked three shots on one possession in 13 seconds, two from Cooper Flagg and P.J. Washington that went out of bounds and a third De'Aaron Fox cleaned up. The Mavericks scored when he breathed. That's the two-way argument, not a scoring binge.

Yes, he made only 1 of 4 free throws in the last 2:10, and the Spurs are 6-2 against a 4-4 Dallas team. October and early November still lie sometimes. Luka Doncic dropped 40 the same night in Sacramento's building, and scoring streaks make for loud TV. I'm not handing out the trophy in week three. I'm saying the "too early" line has become a way to dodge what we're watching. When a 7-foot-something posts a first-of-its-kind 50-20-8 and swings a game by 45 points of on-off, the burden shifts. Argue against him with the next two months of film if you want. Don't hide behind the calendar.

Dex already called the MVP case this week after Wembanyama said on 60 Minutes he should win it. I'm not re-litigating the interview. I'm saying Wednesday night is the receipt. If you're still waiting for a "real" sample, you're waiting for a night cleaner than one the Spurs themselves called unprecedented since blocks became official. That wait has a name, and it isn't patience. It's stubbornness.

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