Wembanyama is a different player. A different rookie. And for a reason they already nickname him “the extraterrestrial.” And far from monopolizing all the spotlight by winning the Rookie of the Year award unanimously, the boy wanted to give it to about 50 children who were present at the Scobee Planetarium in San Antonio.
His teammate Jeremy Sochan broke the ice for the kids, but they loved Wemby and his infinite arms, who received the award from the general manager, Brian Wright, and who also paid tribute to him through a heartfelt video that showed his evolution from his first steps as a player at 7 years old.
That video struck a chord with the Frenchman, as he acknowledged in subsequent statements, and he also talked about a little bit of everything. About his future, the team’s project, the French team and the next Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
«I think receiving the award here with the fans, the children… Seeing them so happy. I think it’s the right way to do it,” Wembanyama said.
Last Monday he was named Best Rookie of the Year ahead of Holmgren and Brandon Miller. And he did so by receiving all the votes (99) for first place. We haven’t seen something like this since Anthony-Towns in 2016, and he has been the sixth player in history to achieve it in the last 40 years.
More NBAKevin Durant leaves for the Warriors
“I had other things to think about,” he said about the award. «I had a responsibility towards my team and the challenge of staying healthy and being useful to them. “I had a lot of things to think about throughout the season,” she admitted.
“But this is not enough. This is hardly anything. I want to keep the momentum going and let everyone know that I am part of the family and part of the story. I believe in the fans, in my teammates, in the coaches… I believe in them as much as they believe in me,” Wemby highlighted.
The next step? The Olympic Games where France will be the host and everyone will look at them with a magnifying glass. Especially him after breaking all records in his first season in the NBA.
«This summer is very special because there will be a lot of activity. But yeah, I’ll have some time. “I still had time to relax with my family in France, and now I will have time to train and hopefully I will also have some time after the Olympic Games,” he concluded.
(Cover photo: Tyler Kaufman/Getty Images)
2024-05-12 08:00:00
#Wemby #receiving #ROY
