Victor Wembanyama was named NBA Rookie of the Year after a record-breaking first season with the San Antonio Spurs.
Victor Wembanyama came to the NBA with enormous expectations and responded with one of the best rookie campaigns that the league has ever seen.
Victor Wembanyama (photo) was named NBA Rookie of the Year after a record-breaking first season with the San Antonio Spurs. Tim Heitman/NBAE via Getty Images
Wembanyama was named NBA Rookie of the Year this Mondayobtaining the 99 first place votes. The pivot of Oklahoma City Thunder, Chet Holmgren, the second pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, came in second place with 98 second-place votes. The second selection of last season, Charlotte Hornets’ Brandon Miller placed third.
The animal becomes the sixth unanimous Rookie of the Year in NBA history, joining Ralph Sampson (1984), David Robinson (1990), Blake Griffin (2011), Damian Lillard (2013) y Karl-Anthony Towns (2016). He also joins the other two No. 1 picks in the San Antonio Spurs in franchise history as award winners, joining Robinson and Tim Duncan (1998).
In 71 games this season, Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.6 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. The last player to average 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in a single season was Shaquille O’Neal, who did so in his MVP season in 1999-2000.
Wembanyama became the second rookie in NBA history in leading the league in blocks (since blocks were officially recorded as a statistic in 1973-74), joining Manute Bol, who accomplished the feat in 1985-86. Wembanyama is the first rookie to record 250 blocks in a season since Alonzo Mourning and O’Neal did it in 1992-93. The 4.5 blocks per game Wembanyama averaged after the All-Star break were the most of any player after the All-Star break. recess from Dikembe Mutombo in
Your average 4.81 steals and blocks per game is the most “actions” of any player in a single season since Ben Wallace did it in 2001-02the first year he won the Defensive Player of the Year award.
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Wembanyama is one of three finalists for Defensive Player of the Year along with Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat. Due to the positionless nature of the All-Defensive team, Wembanyama could end up being the first rookie to make the All-Defense first team At the end of the week.
As much as he impressed on the defensive end, Wembanyama’s offense moved faster than many anticipated. With 128 triples, he became the first player in NBA history with 250 blocks and 100 triples. in the same season.
Average 0.72 points per minute this season, the Most in a season for any rookie since Michael Jordan (minimum 1,000 minutes).
Wembanyama also recorded two triple-doubles: one with assists and another with blocks. On January 10, he scored 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against the Detroit Pistons. A little over a month later, on February 12, he had 27 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks against the Toronto Raptors.
Just 11 days after that, Wembanyama recorded a 5×5 against the Los Angeles Lakers as he finished with 27 points, 10 reboundseight assists, five blocks and five steals, becoming the youngest player to achieve a 5×5 in NBA history.
In an overtime performance Against the New York Knicks on March 29, Wembanyama scored 40 points and 20 rebounds in his highest scoring game of the season.
Since blocks became an official statistic, the only other players to have had a 40-point, 20-rebound game, a 5-on-5 game, and a 10-block game in their career are Hakeem Olajuwon and Anthony Davis.
Despite all of Wembanyama’s accomplishments, San Antonio finished with the same record as a season ago (22-60) and needed seven wins in its final 11 games to get there.
Spurs are still a young team and while no one thought their record wouldn’t improve, Wembanyama sees a long-term vision.
“At no point did I think I wasn’t in the best situation. I wasn’t in the best place,” Wembanyama said on the final day of the season. “Of course, I wish we were in the playoffs and I wish we didn’t lose 60 games, of course.
“But as difficult as it is today, I know it’s long-term. I trust my teammates 100 percent and I trust the project. So, really my confidence… was never shaken at any point.”
2024-05-06 23:50:00
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