Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs became the third European and first French player to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award.
After an extraordinary rookie season on the court, Wembanyama has generated record-breaking interest and engagement off the court from fans around the world, in Europe and, of course, in France.
DIGITAL MEDIA
The Spurs are first in France in average number of unique viewers per game on NBA League Pass, the NBA’s subscription streaming service that allows fans to watch games live and on-demand
Viewers of San Antonio games on NBA League Pass in France increased 189% year over year (compared to unique viewers of Spurs games last season) with an increase of 91% compared to the average viewership of all games in France League Pass in France this season.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Victor Wembanyama ranks third among NBA players with the most views globally on NBA social channels this season with 1.3 billion views, behind only LeBron James (1.9 billion) and Stephen Curry (1.7 billion )
o Wembanyama is the fastest player to reach 1 billion views, making him the most followed Rookie of all time
Victor Wembanyama’s dunk against the Celtics on December 31st is the second most viewed video ever on NBA social channels (247 million)
o Wembanyama also leads the league in videos of blocks (219M) and dunks (420M)
On NBA social media channels, Wembanyama highlights reached 2.9 million hours of viewing.
This season, Victor Wembanyama ranks third in number of followers acquired on his personal Instagram profile (1.1 million), behind only LeBron James and Steph Curry, perennial leaders in this category over the past decade. Wembi has seen a 44% increase in followers since the start of the season.
o Since Wembanyama was first featured on NBA social media, his first scrimmage against the G League Ignite last year, his Instagram follower count has grown 18-fold.
Articles on NBA platforms related to Wembanyama generated 11.2 million views, ranking sixth this season.
Wembanyama moved the San Antonio Spurs into the top five teams with the most social media views in the NBA, up from 30th place last season.
MERCHANDISING
Victor Wembanyama’s kit is the best-selling in France, second in Europe and fourth in the world after Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Jayson Tatum.
ON-COURT
Victor Wembanyama set (and broke) several records in what was arguably the greatest rookie season ever: He finished the regular season atop the league in blocks (3.6 BPG), becoming the first rookie to do so since 1986. He leads the rookie league in points per game (21.4 PPG), rebounds per game (10.6 RPG) and steals per game (1.2 SPG). Wembanyama became the seventh player in NBA history to finish the season with at least 21 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks per game (along with David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O’Neal, Bob Lanier, Patrick Ewing and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who made 75 appearances at the All-Star Games). Wembanyama is the only one to have achieved this by playing less than 30 minutes (29.7 per game). He became the only player in NBA history with more than 1,500 points, more than 250 blocked shots and more than 100 three-pointers in a single season. In a mid-season game against LeBron James and the LA Lakers, Victor Wembanyama became the 15th and youngest player in NBA history to record a 5×5 stat line (27 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, five steals, five blocks). Youngest player in NBA history to record at least 30 points, six rebounds, six assists and seven blocks in a single game. He achieved this in just 24 minutes, which is eight minutes less than all eight other players who achieved this result. He is only the third teenager to score at least 38 points in his rookie year (along with LeBron James and Kevin Durant).
2024-05-14 08:41:09
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