Victor Wembanyama did not have his game against the Dallas Mavericks. The Spurs’ franchise player was poor at shooting and lost many balls, but that did not stop him from having a huge impact on the court, something that did not go unnoticed by his rivals.
After the game, which ended with a 107-113 victory for those coached by Jason Kidd, Kyrie Irving was questioned about his impression of the number 1 in the 2023 draft, who seems destined to mark an era in the NBA with some qualities physics and techniques that had never occurred in a single player. Well, the Mavs point guard not only stops at the praise, but he even makes clear the award that Wemby would deserve to receive at the end of the campaign.
«You have to be attentive to their efforts at the last moment and also have the timing of a guard. He is able to bounce back time and time again on defense when he is facing an outside player one-on-one. Today he thought she had made a layup and ended up blocking it. He has an immense wingspan with which he covers a lot of space. As a competitor, I like to go after him and challenge him, because if you can finish with him in front, that means you can do it against anyone from the rest of the world,” he explains.
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Being undoubtedly fully involved in the fight for Rookie of the Year – only Chet Holmgren overshadows him in such a race – Irving understands that Wembanyama is not only a candidate for such an award, but that he can perfectly compete for the prestigious Defensive Player of the Year.
«He does things like a Defensive Player of the Year would do. He has surpassed all the statistics of the previous players who won it. You see it. I don’t know who they’re going to pick, but I want to say that he has all the tools to be named Defensive Player of the Year. Surely he is a candidate. I don’t know how he couldn’t be in that discussion unless he didn’t meet the criteria for games and minutes played. I give him credit for being such a young player who learns as he goes and does everything possible for his team to win,” he says.
(Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
2024-03-20 09:00:00
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